Full Circle
by MaverickBuff
Summary: Former members of a destroyed guild band together once again in order to enact revenge on the forces that tore them apart 4 fateful years ago, to carry out their own brand of justice to ensure that everything comes around in a full circle.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Old Comrades**

A lone boy was sleeping in a dark cell. The cell was a really small one, and he took up most of the space by just sleeping on the floor. He wasn't sleeping on a bed, but rather, the remains of a broken down straw bed. The door of his cell, despite looking very old and broken down from age, was as sturdy as ever. The rusted lock still managed to contain the boy in the cell, despite being half broken.

The boy was quite a light sleeper. There was a faint clanging sound, and then there were footsteps, along with somebody dragging something along the ground, or most likely, someone. There was the sound of a door being unlocked, and someone could be heard being thrown unceremoniously into a cell. The kid shifted slightly in his bed, and he figured a newcomer had just joined his ranks.

The door was locked tight, and when the footsteps died down, there was complete silence. The boy could not hear anything for a while, but within the next few minutes, he could hear the occupant in the opposite cell start to move around. A single tap on the wall, the shuffling of feet. The boy merely chuckled. No doubt, this person was trying to find some way to escape this God-forsaken place by checking the room for any chance of finding a weakness in the room that contained him. After all, who wouldn't?

" You know, don't want to disappoint you or anything, but don't bother trying. If there was even the glimmer of a hope that you can escape, I would have been long gone from this place," the boy replied speaking to his new 'cellmate'.

The noise died down, and the person on the other side probably understood what he meant. " I've been here for 4 years now. You'll get used to the place, no worries. I'm here for life, so I don't know how long my sentence is actually gonna take. How long are you in here for, and why? Should be something serious, cos you got put in the same level as I am," the boy replied.

There was no reply.

" Not the talkative type, huh? Me, yeah I talk…it keeps my mind sane you know. I've been going crazy a bit now. They moved or killed all the inmates on this floor, so I've been kinda lonely. Almost considered trying to talk to myself, but that would be crazy right?" the boy replied. " Do tell me if you want me to shut up. I do tend to get annoying sometimes."

" …This is indeed surprising…I thought you were dead the last 4 years, Carrier," the person in the opposite cell spoke to him, almost with a tone of affection.

The boy jumped out of his bed in an instant, his face white with shock when he heard those words being spoken to him. His heart was racing rapidly, his mind almost numb from the revelation. He knew this voice, it was all too familiar to him. He moved himself immediately towards the door, peering through the small barred window. Very quickly, he slipped off his fingerless glove on his right hand and slipped it out of the opening of the door. Concealed behind the glove was a small tattoo on his arm, a figure of two pairs of wings at the side of a halo. The newcomer didn't respond for a while, but after a few seconds, Carrier could see the boy put out his right hand as well, and a similar tattoo could be seen from his hand. Carrier could barely hold his breath.

" Holy shit! I can't believe it's really you!" Carrier exclaimed excitedly. " You are not some ghost, right? You are the real Ghost, right? I mean, the one that obviously cannot walk through walls."

" Looks like you are as excitable and talkative as ever. Glad that annoying feature of yours hasn't changed over the years," Ghost answered.

Carrier could barely contain himself. He had almost given up hope on leaving this place alive, but after four years, he had managed to meet up with a long lost companion. " Chirst man, what took you so long? I was wondering when you'd show up. If any of us were supposed to survive that assault, it would be the consummate survivor," Carrier replied.

" I'd like to apologise in advance. I did not come here to rescue you specifically," Ghost answered.

" …You are here for Crimson?" Carrier asked.

" Well, that confirms that she is here then. Is she still alive?" Ghost asked.

" Yes, but barely, I think," Carrier answered. " You came here specifically to rescue her, but not me. Okay…I am a guy, and you are obviously not gay enough for me to reward you with a kiss, but did you really hate me that much?"

" Don't get it wrong. The reason I didn't come here to rescue you was because I thought you were dead," Ghost answered.

" Thanks for the vote of confidence, buddy, really helps with the morale," Carrier grumbled.

" If I recalled correctly, you were at Section 13 when the bombs went off. The Residential sector there took the largest hit, and I figured you died along with the rest in the area," Ghost answered.

" Close. I was actually on the way towards the restrooms when the bombs went off, so I was spared from the damage, but I was grievously hurt at that point, so I didn't take part in the counter attack you all initiated, which might also play a part in why you thought I was dead," Carrier answered.

" Not dead enough to not know we actually held a counter attack. You weren't hiding, were you?" Ghost asked sarcastically.

" The twins, Rex and Tex managed to find me and drag me along to one of the rooms to tend to my wounds. That was when they told me about it," Carrier replied.

" Forgive me. I guess you aren't that weak as I thought you were," Ghost replied, chuckling slightly.

" Being weak or strong had nothing to do with it. It was pure luck that I managed to survive until today," Carrier replied, withdrawing his hand from the door. " …I suppose it is just me being hopeful, but is there any of our old buddies who managed to escape?"

" Of course. Survival was what we were bred to do. Including you, the members of the Archangel force that are still remaining is now 9, at the very least. I have been attempting to track all of you down, and right now, I am starting with Crimson. I guess finding you is a boon of sorts for my attempts," Ghost answered.

" ...How are the rest doing?" Carrier asked.

" Fine, I suppose. This Morrocan prison is my first try at gathering the rest of the crew, since Crimson is the only one in the most danger. I've been stealing records, and I know she has been incarcerated her under the torture chambers for long enough. It may have been badly planned, but I needed to enter this prison fast," Ghost replied.

" …You mentioned 'gathering'. What are you planning to do with rounding us all up?" Carrier asked.

" …Revenge, of course…" Ghost answered coldly.

Carrier sort of expected the answer. If anything, Ghost was probably the only one amongst all of them to want to see this through.

" Our members were massacred in cold blood, and the authorities covered up the story. There will be no justice, no karma for the people who murdered our comrades for money and safety. I will not sit idle and let their souls weep. I barely knew any of them personally, but they were my family. Anyone who harms my family will pay dearly for their foolish act," Ghost answered with some tension in his voice. " Yes, I am finding the rest of the surviving members so that we can come together again, and show that no bad deed goes unpunished. You have been through what I have. I am sure you will agree with me. I am out for blood. What do you say?"

Carrier took a moment to collect his thoughts. He had been stuck in this cell for 4 years, day in and day out; he had been carrying out this mundane existence. If it was something Carrier detested the most, it was going into a fight, which was ironic because that was what he had been training to do most of his life. Not once did the thought of revenge crossed his mind, since he loathed violence.

Pressing his head against the bars of his door, Carrier broke out into a dark grin and answered " What's the plan, Ghost?"

" Amazing…for once we agree on something," Ghost replied.

" Actually, we do agree on a lot of things. You just never bothered to give a shit about me, that's why," Carrier replied. " I assume you have some plan of sort to get us by."

" Not really, but having you here really speeds the process," Ghost answered. " I need information about this jail. As much as you can possibly give."

" 4 years worth of experience. Fire away," Carrier replied, relishing the challenge.

" What is the exact dimensions of this jail?" Ghost asked.

" An exact square at 500 by 500 meters, with the internal building covering a 400 by 400 meter area.. It is by far the biggest jail in Morroc. Not under any jurisdiction, but the local lords, traders and royalty pooled their resources together to fund this place, where they can throw in people who they don't like as they please. For a fee, someone from somewhere else can pay a small fee to keep whoever they want here prisoner. This jail doubles as a dungeon as well, since it has 3 storeys above ground a 2 below. Morrocans like fancy things, but not for their prisons. The basic layout can be placed the four wind directions: north, south, east and west, each area corresponding to the parts where they point. The underground dungeon is slightly larger than the top, covering an area of 450 by 450 meters. Two exits, one at the north side and one at the south side. The guardhouse, canteen, bathing area, communal center, weapon and supply stocks are all located at the ground floor. For the most part, the two floors that go up and go down all house us, the scum of the universe, so to speak," Carrier answered.

" I was asking for the dimensions, but I guess too much information cannot be that bad of a thing," Ghost replied. " Where is Crimson located?"

" Basement Level 2, North side. It's pretty much like maximum security prison cell for her. Not pretty. They drag her off and torture her about once every week, and the cell conditions there make mine look luxurious. Granted, I've never seen the faces of the prisoners in the north block, but the guards periodically go there and beat the shit out of them. At least I go out once in a while. I think Crimson hasn't seen sunlight in like 2 years," Carrier answered.

" Is she still alive?" Ghost asked.

" She has bitten off 4 ears, 2 noses, 1 tongue, fractured three guard's wrists, 2 femurs and poked out 4 of their eyes, each on a separate occasion and still counting," Carrier answered, with an almost proud tone in his voice. " The reason she was brought in here was because some local lord bought her off the slave market and tried to do something 'funny' with her. Heard she bit his privates off while he was having fun with her."

Ghost gave a slight chuckle. " That spunky attitude of hers always gets her into trouble," Ghost mused. " Guard shifts?"

" 24 hour surveillance, cos they are paid well to do their job. They patrol mostly the outer corridor. They come in about every hour to check on things, 2 hours from 8pm to 4am. 20 guards per corridor, two per section. There are 10 cells in this area, 2 guards always outside. 3 shifts per day, starting at 4am. All in all, an estimated 650 guards and wardens working in this jail. The numbers change often, so I can only give an estimate, but there are at least 320 guards on duty all the time, give or take. Level of security drops the more levels you go up," Carrier answered.

" I see. You said Crimson is in the lowest floor at the north side, right?" Ghost asked.

" Yeah, Corridor 3, Cell 2," Carrier answered.

" …You said you've never seen her, nor have has she been brought out since," Ghost mused. " How the hell do you know her cell?"

" Your skepticism is getting on my nerves. You know what are my qualifications in the Archangel corps, right? I deal with information. I am an absolute genius in collecting information. Intel based missions were my forte. I have been in this shithole for 4 God damned years. I can list the names of all the darn inmates here if you need them," Carrier replied.

" Oh, you are proving to be very useful this time around. 4 years have changed you slightly," Ghost answered.

" Screw you," Carrier snapped.

" Just joking," Ghost answered. " …Still can pick locks?"

" If you got a good lockpick, I'm always good to go," Carrier answered.

As a reply, Carrier was greeted by a sickening sound of flesh being torn apart, like Ghost was ripping apart is skin. Faint drops of liquid hit the floor, most likely his blood, not before Ghost slipped his hand out and handed a long piece of wire which was dripping in blood.

" Aw shit…where did you hide it?" Carrier replied, taking the metal wire.

" My forearm," Ghost answered.

" I know you have quickened regenerative abilities, but that has got to hurt," Carrier replied. " Heck, you don't even know how to pick locks. Why even bother with a lockpick in the first place?...No wait, you were planning on using this as a weapon, not as a lockpick."

" Yeah, being flashy is who I am, but I suppose since you are here now, we may as well make full use of you," Ghost answered.

" Glad to be of service," Carrier replied sarcastically.

" Don't bother about it now. If there are less patrols at night, we will attempt to break out then. We have located Crimson's location, assuming you are correct, which you usually are. If things go as planned, we might even get out of here tonight," Ghost said.

" …Tonight? How? You plan on taking on 320 guards?" Carrier mused.

" No need for that. This is Morroc after all. Poisons are their specially. I am sure they have stocked them up somewhere," Ghost replied.

" Sure they do," Carrier replied.

" I was thinking of mass poisoning," Ghost replied.

" That's kinda hardcore, even for our standards," Carrier answered back.

" …I was thinking of maybe some kind of a poison that induces sleepiness," Ghost replied.

" Oh, why didn't I think of that? It's not like I can read minds, right?" Carrier sarcastically replied.

There was some movement that could be heard from the distance, something like a lock being unlocked. There was the grating sound of grinding metal, followed by the hollow echoing sound of footsteps.

" The guards are coming. We will continue later. Break us out on the 12 midnight shift. We will continue our conversation then," Ghost replied, not before withdrawing into the depths of his cell.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Escape**

The moment the guard exited the corridor, Carrier acted instantly, slipping his hand with the thin metal wire grasped tightly within his fingers. Having bent it slightly to allow him to slip the wire into the lock's opening, he fiddled around a little bit, only to hear a resounding click. The lock snapped open, and dropped onto the floor with a loud crash.

Carrier winced at the sound, but thankfully, despite it being in the middle of the night, none of the guards seemed to have noticed the sound. Carrier shoved the door open, and started to work on Ghost's lock, making sure not to drop the lock this time around.

" How graceful," Ghost replied sarcastically.

" I haven't had 4 years chance to practice. I apologise for being rusty," Carrier replied.

Carrier noticed that Ghost had changed a lot over the four years, but then again four years in his teenage years would definitely make him look much more different. He was much taller than Carrier, almost 6 feet, and he had a very sinewy and muscular body, probably honed over the years with intense training. His skin was mostly very tan now, almost dark brown, which meant he had been spending some time in the Morrocan desert, shirtless from the looks of the tan lines on his body. His light blue eyes have yet to lost their sharp edge he always had, and he apparently hasn't bother with a haircut in a while now. His face was hardened and fierce, like a beast ready to consume his prey.

" Always constipated then, still constipated now. You need to eat more vegetables," Carrier joked.

" Let's leave the small talk for later, we don't have much time," Ghost replied, getting up from his seating position and walking out of the cell.

" What's the plan, big guy?" Carrier asked.

" You are skilled with Morrocan poisons, right?" Ghost asked.

" Yeah, they stocked it in the supply room on the ground floor," Carrier answered.

" Think we can disable them by knocking them unconscious with some drug?" Ghost asked.

Carrier pondered for a while. " Well, I believe they do keep some Corrosol extracts. If I can get a good supply and dump it into the boiler tank at the ground floor and overload it, the steam mixed with the extracts will knock anyone out as the fumes rise upwards. Won't be effective once we get outside," he answered.

" That's good enough," Ghost replied. " Here's the plan: I'll head down and secure Crimson first. During that time, you will head to the supply room and obtain that extract. Once that is done, head to the boiler room and do as what you have suggested. If you can, pick up some weapons if you can afford it. I can use anything, but you know what I prefer," Ghost replied.

" Hey, why does it sound like I am getting the short end of the stick?" Carrier answered back, sounding slightly annoyed.

" You always get the short end of the stick. I don't see why that should change anytime soon," Ghost answered chuckling.

" I'd hit you, but I'm too nice of a guy," Carrier replied as both of them headed towards the corridor's exit. Two guards could be seen standing outside, talking to one another. " On my mark, you take left. One, two…go!"

Both Carrier and Ghost slipped out from the corridor, with carrier grabbing his target and pushing him down not before cuffing him on the back of his neck to knock him out, while Ghost grabbed his target's face and slammed it onto the wall behind him, rendering him unconscious as well.

" So much for talking back on me not keeping quiet," Carrier scoffed.

" We'll meet up later. I'll be seeing you then," Ghost whispered, not before darting down the opposite end of the corridor, sneaking past the distant guards using the shadows. Carrier did the same, moving off in the opposite direction.

ooo

As Carrier said, the layout of the place was very simple. It didn't take too much effort on Ghost's part to find the stairs that would lead to the bottom levels. Ghost moved swiftly and silently, careful to avoid the guards that patrolled the corridors. Even though they were actively patrolling the place, they were moving in a highly predictable pattern, and Ghost used that to his advantage by hiding near secluded corners along the walls and corridors to advance his way through.

He quickly found his way to the staircase, and moved towards the bottom floor with ease. He managed to reach the basement level two with no trouble, and he proceeded to find where Crimson was located. The lower levels were very dark, with almost no illumination at all, as if to deprive the prisoners of any form of light. This suited Ghost perfectly in his need for stealth as he made his way through the place.

It was almost eerily silent in the north wing, almost as if there prisoners here were merely corpses. The only sound audible to Ghost's ear was a lone torch that was lit at the end of the corridor with just enough light to let one know where not to trip. Two guards were stationed outside corridor 3, most likely slightly bored as they were taking animatedly to one another in low whispers. Ghost made quick work of them by slamming their heads on the wall at the same time, knocking them unconscious. He wasn't sure if he accidentally killed them, but he wasn't in the mood to care.

The corridor was now unguarded, and he carefully scanned the cells. Most of them were highly barricaded, with heavy locks in place, no doubt to contain the prisoners that they kept inside. Ghost moved towards cell 2, and stood right in front of the door.

" …Ghost…?" a barely audible whisper could be heard from beyond the door.

" I'm here…" Ghost answered back.

ooo

Carrier managed to fit himself into one of the guard's clothes. It was a little tight, and his skin started to itch a little, but it fit him nicely nevertheless. Donning his new attire from the guards he had just knocked out, he looked almost like a guard himself. However, there was a little flaw in his plan to masquerade as a Morrocan jailer.

Most guards worked in pairs, and being alone would definitely make him stand out. They also do not move around unless they are patrolling the area or moving off to deal with a certain task. Carrier was hoping his attire would let their guards down to allow him to overpower them.

He moved swiftly, passing through the corridors to reach one of the staircases that would lead him upstairs. Two guards were guarding a nearby corridor. Carrier quickly made his way towards them. They turned to him, looking quizzically and asking him what was he doing here. Without warning, he elbowed the closer one, the sharp jab knocking him backwards, while sending a quick jab to the other's abdomen, making him reel over. Kicking them onto the ground, he gave them a swift kick to the face each, rendering them unconscious.

" Oi, what are you doing?" someone shouted from a distance.

" Oh crap!" Carrier muttered. He really was getting rusty.

ooo

Ghost waited for a bit, hoping that Crimson would respond once more, but she didn't reply. He proceeded to hold the lock that was in place firmly with his hands. Nothing seem to change for a while, not before the lock started to strain, and he broke the metal links apart in one swift go. The lock fell noisily on the ground, but Ghost could care less. Unlocking the door, he roughly pushed it open and entered the dark cell.

A weak, lone figure of a young girl could be seen at the end of the cell. Crimson was chained to the wall, her entire body looking weak and haggard. She wasn't modestly covered, just a piece of ragged cloth covering her body. There were scars and wounds on her arms and chest, and she looked so fragile Ghost thought she might just turn to dust the moment he touched her. Her long, silver hair which was now streaked with grease, blood and dirt, covered most of her face, and her head was hanging limply from her neck.

" …Ghost…?" she asked again, almost as if she needed to reconfirm his presence.

" I'm here," Ghost answered again, moving up to her.

" …It's…been…far…too…long…" she gasped, the words sounding painful when she spoke.

" Hush, don't worry. Everything will be just fine," Ghost replied. He started to rip the chains that kept her in place apart, the metal links falling to the ground, torn apart just like he was tearing up paper, catching Crimson carefully as she dropped to the ground once the shackles that held her in place were gone.

" Are we…leaving?" she asked.

" Yes, we are," Ghost answered.

Crimson felt so small in his hands. She was already small, in terms of size and height, but malnourishment and torture made her look even more vulnerable now. She had lost a lot of weight and muscle mass, and her breathing was quite weak. From the looks of it, she might not have survived the next week.

All of a sudden, Ghost could hear shouting in the distance. He wondered if Carrier had alerted the entire building, as it sounded like the entire jail was now awake, even in the middle of the night. There were shouts ringing all over the place, not before there was a huge cry of alarm, and the ceiling in front of Crimson's cell dropped in an explosion of fire and dust. Ghost winced as the dirt started to obscure his vision, and his ears ringing slightly from the blast.

" Come on, let's move," Carrier exclaimed, climbing down the hole he made. He was carrying a few bottles in a small pack, no doubt explosive material which he used to make a hole.

" Are you crazy? What happened to drugging the guards? You could have killed us!" Ghost snarled.

" Change of plans. You know how I suck at impromptus," Carrier replied, shrugging his shoulders.

" Damn it," Ghost snarled, cradling Crimson in his arms as he skipped past the rubble and followed Carrier out. " Now that you have made this mess, do you have a plan on getting out?"

" Sort of," Carrier replied, not before heading deeper into the corridor.

" You are going the wrong way. The staircase is in the opposite direction," Ghost snapped.

" Who said I wanted to use the stairway?" Carrier replied, tossing a bottle of explosives towards the middle of the corridor. The blast almost knocked them off their feet, but somehow managed to carve a hole onto the ceiling. " I noticed the ceiling here had weak foundations. We can blow our way to the top."

" That still does not explain how are we going to get past the guards," Ghost replied.

" I said the underground levels were larger in dimensions to the upper levels. What we need to do is to reach the floor above, head to the exterior corners of the level, and blow the ceiling, and hey, we would reach the ground floor on the external side of the jail, with 50 meters to the exterior fence," Carrier answered.

" You have either gone nuts in this place, or that is just crazy," Ghost replied. " Either way, I like it!"

Carrier climbed up the hole he made, turning around to hoist Crimson up. As they got Crimson to the upper floor, Ghost climbed up to join them, only to spot a group of guards coming at them.

" Booyah!" Carrier shouted, tossing two explosive bottle in their direction. The resulting blast tore a hole in the ground, and the walls beside the guards crumbled to block their way. " That'll hold them, for now."

Both of them got up and started to make a run for the exterior wall, with Ghost carrying Crimson in his arms and Carrier priming another explosive. It didn't take too long, and they managed to reach the end of the corridor. Carrier tossed another explosive to the wall, and the resulting explosion once again dropped the ceiling above them, and from the moonlight that passed through it and the copious amounts of sand seeping through the hole, it was obvious that the exit he made led out into the open.

Carrier pulled himself out of the hole he made. The jail was now alight with torches, and the guards posted at the rooftop spotted him making his way out from the hole. He flung a couple of explosives onto the ground, the blast kicking up a wall of sand to obscure the vision of any archer who could take a shot of them in the open. Ghost bounded out of the hole with a powerful leap, following Carrier to the exterior fence, which Carrier blew a hole with using another explosive.

All of them tore through the smoking hole in the fence. They were now free, but not quite safe. The guards were sure to chase after them, and they will do it swiftly. Carrier wasn't exactly sure what to do now, as his plan only led him until this point, but Ghost seemed to graciously take the lead. He tore down the desert, his legs carrying him as fast as he could towards the Desert City.

" Something in mind in Morroc?" Carrier asked, trying to keep after him.

" Sort of," Ghost replied. " Here's our ride."

Carrier didn't see it at first due to the rush and the confusion of their escape, but now there was a caravan driven by two Peco pecos that was moving somewhere towards the east. Ghost ran in that direction, and the caravan closed in. It slowed down slightly to allow them to climb in, and once all three of them were inside, it started to speed of again, the driver urging the Peco pecos to run faster.

" Hey…thanks," Carrier replied, panting slightly. The driver of the caravan merely grunted as a reply. " Where'd you get this bundle of joy?"

" I'll explain later," Ghost replied, lying Crimson on the floor of the caravan. She seemed to be unconscious now, but Ghost was checking if she was in any serious condition. " She seems fine, but she will need a lot of rest…and food, perhaps. I know she was a heavy eater."

Something reached out to knock Carrier on his head. Both of them noted that it was Crimson's hand doing it.

" Guess she is still conscious about her habits," Ghost mused.

" Hey, Ghost said that, not me, you dumb woman!" Carrier snapped back at her, and she responded by poking him in the eye, which made him recoil and grasp his face. " Chirst, woman, you are nuts!"

" I guess she is fine. One less thing to worry about then," Ghost mused, taking a seat.

" Where are we headed?" Carrier asked, rubbing his sore parts.

" You'll see," Ghost replied, smirking.

Carrier didn't have to wait long. The caravan rode through Morroc, the Desert City. The city was awfully dark now, the lights coming from the buildings barely illuminating the streets, the driver of the caravan almost riding blind now. He was weaving in and out of the streets, moving at speeds that would pose danger to people travelling outside. In fact, Carrier spotted a few people having to dodge the speeding caravan, sending a few choice swear words at the driver.

They managed to reach a house, which from the looks of it, was relatively a mansion by Morrocan standards. It was located at the eastern side of the city, and the mansion was very large, almost three times larger than the normal shop-lots and houses that littered the streets. There were a few exotic plants located on the exterior grounds of the mansion when they entered through the front gate, a sign of wealth as plants were quite expensive to obtain and grow in Morroc, more so for exotic plants. A number of people could be seen guarding the place, but a large majority of them were rogues and assassins.

The caravan moved towards the front entrance of the mansion, and the front doors opened up to greet them. A middle-aged, sultry looking lady came up to them, dressed in a tight vest and a loose high quality jacket, with quite a number of jewelry adorning her body. Carrier got one look of her and snapped his head back to Ghost.

" That is Riene Bloodwash," Carrier whispered loudly. " Did you just ally yourself with a crime lord?"

" Quiet, just watch and follow my lead," Ghost whispered back, stepping out from the caravan.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Possession**

" Welcome back. Didn't expect you to return so soon? I suppose you have been successful," Riene spoke to him, not before catching a glance at Carrier. " Hmm, someone extra? Who is he?"

" My search was quite fruitful tonight. I managed to extract two of my targets," Ghost answered casually.

" I see," Riene answered.

" I would like to treat my friend. Could you please lead us to our rooms. I'd really appreciate it," Ghost replied.

Riene snapped her fingers, and in an instant, two assassins flanked her sides. Ghost carried Crimson and entered the mansion. It wasn't overly grand, but the furniture looked quite expensive, especially the exotic carpets, the bright colours making Carrier slightly dizzy. The mansion had two floors, with an occasional assassin or rogue moving about. They were led to the upper floor, towards one of the rooms at the rear of the mansion.

The room they prepared was fairly cozy. Fairly luxurious beds had been prepared, along with a small cabinet filled with snacks. The room was filled entirely with carpets, which were soft and comfortable to their feet. The two assassins bowed slightly, not before leaving them alone.

" Neat room," Carrier spoke up.

Ghost placed Crimson on the bed gently. Once again, he examined her body, but besides being malnourished and sporting old wounds, Crimson was fine. She would need some form of nourishment now however, and so would all of them.

The door to their room opened once more, and this time Riene entered the room, along with a few personal bodyguards. Ghost stood up and walked towards her, and Carrier followed him closely.

" I hope that you find the room to your liking," Riene spoke.

" Indeed, it was far beyond what I could imagine. I must sincerely thank you," Ghost answered.

" That can be easily settled by our payment," Riene replied.

" I understand. I will set out as soon as I can early the next morning to retrieve your payment," Ghost answered. " Do not worry, I won't attempt to escape. I will leave my two companions here as collateral, so you know that I won't simply run off."

Riene merely chuckled, the jewelry around her shaking as she laughed. " How amusing. I will hold you to your word then, but that will be for tomorrow. Is there anything I can supply you with?" Riene asked.

" Food. I'll let you choose the menu as to what you intend to feed us with, but I'd appreciate if your chef could supply us some soup and porridge for our injured friend, since it would probably be bad for her health if she was to swallow solid food," Ghost spoke.

" Understood, it shall be sent right away," Riene replied, not before sauntering off. " I bid you goodnight."

Once they were left alone, Carrier spun onto Ghost. " Excuse me, what the hell are you thinking? Getting help from these people? And what kind of payment do you have in mind for criminals such as them?" Carrier asked. " You have a big budget now or what?"

" Relax, Carrier. I had this all thought out. Everything will be fine," Ghost replied.

Carrier wanted to object, but both of them heard a soft groaning noise coming from the bed where they left Crimson. As they hurried back, they saw that Crimson was trying her best to sit herself up.

" Don't push yourself. You are in a bad shape. You should lie down and take it easy," Carrier replied.

" Carrier, is that you? It sure sounds like you," Crimson replied, her eyes barely open.

" Of course it is me," Carrier replied.

" …And where have you been all this while?" Crimson asked, turning to Ghost.

" Up and about, I believe," Ghost answered.

There was another knock on the door, and Ghost granted permission to whoever it was to enter their room. A set of three servants entered, each of them carrying trays of food. One of them carried a tray with porridge and clear soup made from chicken stock as was ordered by Ghost for Crimson. However, for Carrier and Ghost, their tray was filled with a generous serving of fried rice using Morrocan spices with a large portion of fried salted snake meat, with some stewed vegetables. The three servants set down the trays in front of them and left the room, while Crimson glared at Ghost.

" Why does my tray look like shit?" Crimson asked.

Ghost pulled the tray with porridge and soup to himself. " Whoever said that it was for you? I am just tried to eating stuff cooked with Morrocan spices? All the spiciness is getting to me. I wanted something simple for a change," Ghost answered, not before gulping down the porridge as though it were a drink.

" Oh, don't mind if I start…I am famished," Crimson replied.

Despite looking weak and malnourished, Crimson was still apparently healthy enough to chow down her food, which disappeared as if she swallowed the plate whole. Feeding her seemed to allow her to regain most of her strength back. Ghost and Carrier merely chuckled at the sight of her wolfing down her food.

" Hell yeah, best meal I had in a while," Crimson replied, licking her lips to clean of all the sauce on her face.

" I'd say. That was highly entertaining," Carrier replied, chuckling.

" It's good to see the two of you again, especially you, Carrier," Crimson replied.

" Thanks for the vote of confidence," Carrier snapped back sarcastically.

" Don't blame her. I mean, I too thought you were dead until just moments ago," Ghost said.

" After we separated, I went on an attempt to search for the rest of you guys, but I guess it didn't turn out so well, and I ended up getting enslaved in Morroc during my attempts. I hope the two of you aren't the only ones left," Crimson replied.

" Of course not. In fact, Ghost has been checking around places, and he has a good guess on where the rest of the surviving members are right now, and we will be going to round them up," Carrier spoke excitedly.

" …For revenge?" Crimson asked.

" You catch on quick," Ghost answered, smiling darkly back at her.

" I have been waiting for our chance to strike back all these years. To think the time has finally come. How many of us are there so far?" Crimson asked.

" Including you and Carrier, 5," Ghost answered.

" Who are the other two?" Carrier asked, sounding slightly surprised. He figured was Ghost was doing a solo act so far.

" Black and Spike. I had both of them deal with preparations for our campaign, so there are not here yet, but we will meet up with them soon when the opportunity arises," Ghost answered, not before turning to Crimson. " I can guess your answer, but I want to hear it from you first hand. Are you with us?"

" There is no doubt about it. Count me in," Crimson replied, with a tone of happiness and joy in her voice.

" How about the rest?" Carrier asked.

" I have located a few others, and when Crimson recovers, we will start to seek them out. Spark is in Geffen, having taken up a scholarly profession in the Geffen Magic Academy. I know Eagle is staying in Izlude currently, and Edge is working as a mercenary in Juno. Chaos is somewhere in Payon, but I'm not sure what she is up to, while Grant is in Alberta," Ghost answered.

" Heh, that's 10 of us…is that all?" Carrier asked.

" No, hopefully not, but I have been unsuccessful in tracking down other members of our group. These are the ones I have managed to find so far. If we are lucky, we might stumble onto them like I did with Carrier," Ghost replied.

" So…what's the plan now?" Crimson asked.

" Sleep," Ghost answered.

" You can't be serious," Crimson replied.

" But I am. You are tired, malnourished and you still bear some marks from what they did to you in the jail. I'd suggest that you rest for tonight. Also, I am tired, and I am sure so is Carrier. We rest for the night, and we will act tomorrow," Ghost answered.

" Tomorrow?" Crimson mused.

" I promise," he answered.

" Excellent. The plan is set. This one is mine," Carrier exclaimed, jumping on of the beds, before turning to Ghost. " No objections, right?"

Ghost merely replied by walking off to the corner of the room and sat himself down as he leaned his body against the wall, his eyes closes and seemingly fast asleep. " Hmm, old habits die hard, I guess," Carrier replied.

" I suppose it applies to all of us," Crimson replied, not before lying down on her bed, quickly falling asleep as well. Carrier attempted to sleep, but found himself unable to, wondering if he was just afraid when he woke up, this might just all be a dream.

ooo

Crimson woke with a start. Something was wrong with their room. She could see nothing wrong externally, but she sensed something was out of the ordinary. She quickly tried to locate both her comrades. Carrier was still fast asleep, but Ghost was nowhere to be found. She attempted to get out of bed, but her abdomen hurt a lot, and she winced when she tried to spring herself out of bed.

" What's the rush?" Ghost's voice suddenly asked her.

She saw him enter the room, carrying a tray of baked bread and some cured ham, along with a jug of milk. Ghost set the tray down on her bed, and by doing so he woke Carrier up at the same time, who rubbed his eyes sleepily.

" What's this?" Crimson asked.

" Breakfast, what do you think?" Ghost replied sarcastically.

She looked curiously at him, not before Carrier reached over to take something to eat for himself. " Ghost, I sense something odd with this place," she replied.

" I'm impressed. Yours wits haven't dulled over the years," Ghost answered. " What do you think is wrong then?"

Crimson tried to place her finger on what it was that struck her as odd. " …It's…a little bit to quiet," she replied.

" Correct. Any guesses why?" Ghost asked.

" Because everyone else in this mansion besides the three of us are dead," Carrier replied, looking slightly impressed. " You must have poisoned their breakfast. I suspected that you had this planned all along. You weren't going to pay the bitch, weren't you?"

" No, Carrier, I may be an asshole, but I always pay my dues," Ghost replied. " I needed a safe place to house Crimson, and now you, on the off-chance I did manage to break her out of there. She is a high value criminal of the local lords here, so to hide her, I needed someone of influence to hide you both. I picked this place because I knew Lady Riene was ready to sell me back to the Morrocan prison once I had paid her, so I would have no qualms about killing her as payback. Besides, I do not have 1 million zenny on myself right now."

" …No shit," Carrier replied. " Although I suspect this isn't your only reason for choosing this place."

" Nope. If we are to fund our campaign, we need supplies. This place is well stocked. We can take as much supplies as we want from this place before we head off. There should be a large supply of potions, money, jewelry, precious materials and supplies stocked, so we can take some stuff before we leave, and we will need to leave soon. When other people notice that there is absolutely no activity coming from this house, they will begin to suspect something," Ghost replied. " Finish your breakfast. We will start pilfering this mansion when you are finished."

ooo

A large part of the afternoon was spent exploring the mansion. Ghost and Crimson walked around the mansion, exploring most of it, while Carrier was tasked with dragging all the dead bodies of Lady Riene and her associates to the basement. Most of them were slumped along the corridors, while Carrier found Lady Riene lying slumped on her chair in her study, a bowl of soup lying on her desk. Carrier dumped all their bodies in the basement and sealed it up, knowing it would start stinking soon, especially in the Morrocan heat.

" So, what should we raid?" Crimson asked.

" Clothes might be a good start," Ghost commented.

Carrier managed to break into some of Lady Riene's attendants quarters, and they started foraging through the shelves to find something new to wear, as they were still dressed in their unsightly prison attire. Ghost managed to find some cotton clothes which fit him well, and he took a couple of others for himself as well. Carrier got himself an exotic long fur pants, and being unable to find anything suitable, only donned a ragged leather jacket made from high quality leather.

" You know, what is it with rogues and their obsession with jackets?" Ghost asked, as he looked at Carrier donning his jacket, not bothering to cover his chest, leaving his chest slightly visible from beneath the jacket.

" I don't know…but we just have to have these babies…I don't feel right without them," Carrier replied.

" Well, I suppose each to his own, I guess," Crimson replied as she joined them after dressing up. She managed to find a good set of assassin attire that fit her nicely. The shiny black vest fitted her body nicely, and very long, gritty looking bandages were wrapped around her body to give it a grim outtake. A long crimson scarf was wrapped around her neck, and it barely touched the floor. " Too bad we won't be able to find anything of your type here, Ghost."

" When we meet up with Black, he will get the equipment we need," Ghost answered, not before looking at Carrier's fingers. " …Where the heck did you get that?"

" Huh? These?" Carrier asked, raising his hands, and Crimson could see that almost each of his fingers were adorned with a ring, sometimes two, of significant value, either holding very expensive jewelry or was magically enchanted. Crimson also noted that he had a couple of armlets and what looked like 3 necklaces, one of which was a rosary. " Well…the dead guys didn't seem to want them, so I guess I will need to make full use of them."

" …And I thought us girls were high maintenance," Crimson sighed.

" Nah, I'm just being practical," Carrier answered. " I'll let you know that jewelry saved my life."

" I bet," Crimson scoffed. " How we shipping our loot out of here?"

" The stables behind the mansion has a few Peco Peco driven caravans. There is enough for three of us each. We can take our stash and move off from there," Ghost answered.

The majority of the day was spent searching through the house for anything valuable. Zenny was the primary loot, but they managed to scavenge many useful items, like herbs and potions, ore which Ghost said would be useful for Black to forge them new equipment, a few weapons which were limited to mostly small swords and knives plus a good number of magic artifacts. They moved it to the caravan stored at the back in the stables, the Peco Pecos in the stables squawking loudly when they spotted them.

" Are these items even going to be remotely useful?" Crimson asked, looking into the cavaran which Carrier was tasked with filling up, noting a few weird things, like silverware, books and weird equipment.

" Tch, I maybe a kleptomaniac, but if you must know, Crimson, I do not just randomly take things. Each item here has been carefully weighed out in terms of their usefulness, and each of them will be able to serve us well," Carrier answered confidently.

" Okay, amuse me," Crimson replied, tapping the chest containing what looked like silverware, forks, knives and assorted spoons along with trays. " What is the use of silverware to us?"

" Upon mere glance, this may just be simple tools used for dining. However, these are not mere silverware. The exterior is lined with platinum, which is a very expensive type of metal, while the inside is made of adamantum, which in itself is a very useful material in forging items. Black can use them well, and if he can't, we can easily sell this set for a whooping 100000 zenny, which saves space instead of carrying the same weight in coins," Carrier answered, while Ghost entered and placed another box of items in his caravan.

" …The books?" Crimson continued.

" Very valuable magical scriptures. Scholars in Geffen would murder people just to lay their hands on these items. I'm sure Spark will appreciate it if he could be given the chance to study its contents, which has a lot of mumbo jumbo I don't understand, but has extensive theories in advance magic. Even if he can't use it, this book will cost a bomb in the market," Carrier answered again.

" …This plant?" Crimson asked, looking at what looked like a round cactus.

" This is one of the special Morrocan species of cactuses. Its extracts are very useful in creating tonics and antidotes, and Grant can use it for his potion formulas," Carrier answered.

" That's all?" Ghost piped in.

" What do you mean?" Carrier demanded, slightly annoyed.

" I was half expecting you to say that you could sell it off for a good price," Ghost answered, coming out of his caravan while grinning.

" …You can brew it to make a very good tequila. I know the recipe, but that's all for its secondary purpose," Carrier answered, while Crimson and Ghost both giggled at his answer. " Stop laughing, you little pricks."

ooo

It was late in the middle of the night when they were done filling up the caravans. There was still some leftover stuff left in the now empty mansion, but Ghost didn't want to linger too long, just in case someone got a gist of what has happened to this place. Besides, the three caravans they were using were already full, and it's not like they could easily drive more than one caravan.

" Wow, I feel richer already," Crimson replied as they gathered at the stable.

" Feels good that I'm not the only one who is high maintenance," Carrier scoffed. " So, Ghost, where we headed next?"

" We split," Ghost answered as he opened the stable doors.

" Split? Why?" Crimson asked, sounding confused.

" Most of our friends are scattered across the globe. The best way would be to split up and find them than waste time picking them up one by one," Ghost answered. " Each of us will go find a target each. Can you ride alone, Crimson?"

" I'm fine. Who do you think I am?" Crimson snapped, slightly irritated.

" Fine. Our first targets are Edge, Grant and Eagle. Eagle will need some level of persuasion, so I will go and find him. Any preferences to who you guys want to find?" Ghost asked.

" I'll find Edge. She's a good pal of mine, and besides, can't have Crimson take the longer journey, can we?" Carrier sighed.

" Sexist dicks, both of you," Crimson snapped back. " I figured you'd try to convince Grant with that cactus of yours."

" Nah, Grant is more of a boob guy than a plant guy," Carrier replied.

" Alright. Carrier, Edge is working in a mercenary guild in Juno, named the Blaze Fangs. Ask around, it shouldn't be that hard to find, and you can find her there. Crimson, Grant opens a small stall in Alberta along Vineyard Street. It shouldn't be that hard to find. Once you find them, and if you manage to convince them to follow along our campaign, we will meet in Payon to find Chaos, then move back to Geffen to find Spark. Black and Spike have been instructed to meet up with us in Geffen once they are done with business," Ghost replied. " Any questions?"

" Alberta is kinda close to Payon. Why can't Crimson head there and find Chaos?" Carrier asked.

" Chaos has been in hiding all these years. We won't be able to find her. We need numbers to allow her to find us," Ghost replied.

" Why is that?" Crimson asked.

" Have you forgotten what Chaos's personality and specialty is?" Ghost asked.

" Oh," Crimson replied knowingly, as if she had suddenly remembered something important.

" We will proceed as planned. If successful, we should meet up in Payon with the 6 of us," Ghost replied, grinning at them. Carrier and Crimson smiled in turn, and the three of them gave each other a quick hug not before taking the helm of their caravan and riding off towards the night.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Edge**

" Tch, this just isn't my day," Carrier sighed.

Carrier had spent a almost a week travelling to Juno. It would usually take a little sooner than that, but one of his caravan's wheels broke on his way to Juno, so he had to spend some time trying to fix it. Now, he was somewhere south of the floating city, attempting to fish for something in a nearby river in the middle of the vast deserted wasteland, but he was apparently having no luck.

" You'd think I'd catch something by now? I can even see those dumb fishes in the water. I have half a mind to just jump into the river now," Carrier replied, not before turning to his right to address who he was speaking to. " What do you think?"

A single poring was bouncing quietly next to him, looking at him curiously. Carrier wasn't sure why it was following him, but he couldn't be bothered to chase it away at this point, and besides not being able to reply, it was sufficient as a speaking companion. Carrier wondered if it was just here to solely feed on the fish he is going to catch, but it had been following him for a while now.

" Do the fish here hate the taste of worms? I dug a particularly fresh one. They don't like these slimy bastards in these parts, do they?" Carrier asked, while the poring merely bounced up and down. " Chirst, I'm talking to a poring to ease my hunger and boredom. I must be mad. What do you think, Cook?" Carrier asked, turning to the Peco Peco who merely pecked the ground on which it stood. " Bah, you two idiots are useless…"

Carrier pulled back his makeshift fishing rod, deciding to give up." This is absolutely useless. If I rush it, I suppose I might be able to make it to Juno for brunch of sorts, but that would be another antagonising 3-4 hours, but even if I do stay…nothing seemed to be biting. Come on, I need an opinion," Carrier snapped, picking up the Poring. " Answer me or I shall consume you!"

The poring merely jiggled in his hands, and all of a sudden, something dawned on him.

" Wait, you are edible, aren't you?" Carrier mused.

ooo

Carrier had never been to the floating city before, and his perception of Juno only came from what he read in books and what he saw in pictures, so the real sight of the city was certainly a marvel to behold. Large land masses were hold by unknown magic to him, a city in the sky, almost as if it were perched on clouds. Some of the buildings could be seen peeking out from the side of the landmass, and the sight of the floating city was certainly majestic.

Carrier rode through the main gates, the guards allowing him through without the need to check for anything suspicious in his caravan. The buildings here had a certain refinement to them, almost slightly futuristic. Certain Pronteran building elements, but with a sharp edge to them, and the place was certainly much brighter than Prontera was.

" You sure like grand things, don't you, Edge?" Carrier spoke to himself, his previous Poring now not with him. " Right, now…where to find you, Edge…perhaps the nearby tavern would be a good place to start."

Carrier headed to the east side of town, and found a good place to rent a spot to park his caravan for a while. The kid who was in-charge of guarding the parked mounts and rides was almost gushing when Carrier handed him a large tip. Finding the closest tavern, he pushed the door open and looked inside.

The tavern was almost empty, save for a lone hag sitting by the corner. It probably doesn't see too much business during the daytime. Carrier headed towards the counter, where the bartender was more than happy to attend to him.

" …No drinks, I'm here for information…" Carrier replied. " With due payment of course," he added when he saw the bartender's face fall slightly when he said he wasn't here to drink or eat.

" What do you need to know?" the bartender asked.

" I need to find the Blaze Fangs," Carrier replied, getting right to the point. The bartender's face told Carrier that he wasn't too keen to answer from the looks of it, so he took out a pouch that contained a large amount of coins in it and placed it in front of the bartender. " 1000 zennies. I'll make it worth your while. Take it and tell me what I want to know," Carrier continued.

The bartender looked around shiftily, as if someone would spy on him doing something unscrupulous, not before taking the bag. " Their base is located on the 12th building along bourbon Street. You will find them there. Whether or not you can gain entry, that is another matter," the bartender replied, a bead of sweat trickling from his forehead.

" Thank you, I bid you a good day," Carrier replied, taking his leave.

The location for the Blaze Fangs was not hard to find, as it was only a few street down from the tavern. Carrier headed over and looked at the building. It was a three storey building, with a very rustic feel to it. All the windows were barricaded shut, as if trying to keep out sunlight, and the door was locked shut, looking as if nobody lived here in a while, or else it was occupied by vampires.

Carrier tentatively raised his hands and knocked gently on the door. Nobody replied after a while. He tried again, knocking slightly harder, but there was no response. Carrier scratched his head, wondering if there was nobody around, or the bartender was somehow pulling his leg. He tried to see if there was any way he could see through the barred windows to see if there was anyone inside, but he decided against it.

" What do you want?" a voice called out.

Carrier spotted a small lookout hole on the front door, and a beady looking eye was peering out at him, as if appraising him. " …Hi, I'm here to look for someone," Carrier responded.

" Who?" came the curt reply.

Carrier wanted to respond, but he paused. All his former comrades from the Archangel group were given singular names. No surnames, no extras, not even a real name. All of them were referred to by a callsign of their own which reflected a bit of their personality and skills, but all of them embraced it as it was part of their identity which they lost prior to them joining the Archangel. Carrier wasn't sure if Edge would use Edge as her name, and even if he could remember some of her traits, 4 years could change a person a lot.

" Urm, she might have changed her name…"

The person dismissed Carrier instantly before he finished, closing the hole with a bang.

Carrier hammered on the door, slightly infuriated at the response. " Hey, open up, I wasn't finished," Carrier replied. This time no one replied despite his attempts, and Carrier was really ticked off. Moving back to get some running speed, he rushed towards the door and planted his right foot on the left side panel of the door with all his might. There was a resounding crash as the force of the kick broke the lock that held the door in place, tearing off splinters from the door as Carrier barged into the building.

He was greeted by 5 people, two knights, a monk and two wizards in the hallway, all who brandished their weapons when Carrier broke in, while two Hunters joined them a second later. Carrier was unfazed, not even bothering to draw his weapons, glared at them angrily.

" Okay, you dicks brought this on yourself! I'm here to look for someone, and if you really want to make it difficult for me, I can take everyone of you little pricks," Carrier snapped. " So, you want to make it difficult for me or what?"

" I suppose I'm the one that you are looking for?" a voice asked.

Carrier recognized it, slightly deeper than he once remembered, but it was Edge's voice that spoke to him. Looking upward slightly, he saw her descend from the staircase, dressed in full armour, minus her helm. Two large Claymores were slung on her back, the weight of both weapons almost insignificant to her from the way she carried herself. Silky smooth light blonde hair flowed from the back of her head, and her light blue eyes almost twinkled when she looked at him. Her build was almost enormous, and at a towering 6 feet 10 inches with a sinewy frame and rugged features, Carrier felt like a dwarf when comparing sizes. There was this familiar ugly red scar that ran across her left eye, but did nothing to hamper her vision. However, there was another unfamiliar scar that ran across her face, from her right cheek across her nose to the left, which made Carrier curious as to how she got it.

" We'll talk at my place. We have a lot to catching up to do," Edge replied, walking out of the place. Carrier merely followed her quietly, but the moment he stepped outside, he found a very strong arm wrap itself around his neck, pulling him tightly as, almost making him trip, while a set of knuckles nudged him on his head. " Hahaha, it's great to see you Carrier, I haven't seen you in a while. Thought you were dead," Edge exclaimed, her voice suddenly cheerful and bubbly all of a sudden, slightly strange when one saw her physique.

" Ow, that hurts…stop playing with me…we aren't kids anymore," Carrier groaned. While he was happy that he could finally meet up with one of his very long friend, it was annoying that she was treating him like some kid. " What's wrong with you?"

" What's wrong with YOU, Carrier? You don't like this anymore? I know, you used to like riding on my shoulders. I think that should fix things up," Edge replied, grinning like a small child.

" What! ? Wait, hell no!" Carrier snapped.

However, Edge was way more powerful than he was, and in less than a second, Carrier felt himself being lifted off his feet and placed on Edge's shoulder. He attempted to jump off, but her hands held him on the spot, almost as if he was welded onto her shoulders. A few people were looking at the odd sight of a young man riding on the shoulders of a large female knight, and a few kids were pointing fingers at Carrier, who was red with embarrassment.

" You sure know how to embarrass me, don't you?" Carrier sighed, giving up trying to get down from where he was.

" But you always asked me to," Edge replied, almost innocently.

" Can't help it if I am darn short, can I?" Carrier snapped.

" Hey, but at least you like it," Edge commented.

Carrier had to admit, the sensation he felt right now was great. Edge had a height that most people didn't have, and he used to savour the times when he rode on her shoulders, where it almost felt like he was flying. Edge had always been conscious of her height, and Carrier used to remember comforting her on how she should appreciate all of it by riding on top of her shoulders, telling her how good it all felt.

Edge took Carrier off her shoulders, and placed him back on the ground, not before giving him a big and affectionate hug. Carrier merely smiled slightly as he returned the hug, his body pressed hard against her solid armour. They didn't let go for a while, wanting to hopefully transmit 4 years worth of unspoken feelings through the hug.

" It's good to see you again, Edge," Carrier spoke affectionately.

" You too, Carrier," Edge replied, breaking off the hug, and Carrier could see a couple of tears drop from her eyes.

" Aww, a few tears for me, I'm touched," Carrier joked.

" …Well, it's just….I know a lot of us didn't survive, but I thought you were dead," Edge replied, trying to wipe her tears

" …I've been getting that a lot recently," Carrier mumbled angrily.

" Does this mean you have met up with the rest of our group?" Edge asked.

" Let's head to your place. We can discuss things at length there," Carrier replied.

ooo

Edge's home was a very small block in one of the housing estates near the west side of the city. The ceiling of the block was barely touching her head, and the place was cramped. Her bed took up almost half the block, while the other half had a miniaturized kitchen and a table. Carrier took his place near the edge of her bed while Edge moved off to the small kitchen of hers.

" Tea?" she asked.

" Oh, tea's good," Carrier replied.

" I thought you preferred coffee," Edge replied.

" I actually prefer an Awakening potion, but I take what I can get," Carrier commented.

Edge got to boil some water, and poured it into a small pot with some tea leaves and allowed it to steep for a while. Once it was done, she poured them each a small cup, passing Carrier one. Carrier graciously took his cup and took a tentative sip, feeling the tea warm his throat.

" I'd expect you'd be staying in a place much larger than this," Carrier commented.

" Ah well…I had no use for space, see," Edge answered.

" Then what are you saving money for? I'm sure that being a mercenary kinda pays," Carrier replied.

" Been saving most of it," Edge replied. " I think I have about like 3 million zenny or so."

Carrier spat out the tea the moment he heard of the amount. " What? I can't imagine how the hell you could make so much as a mere mercenary," Carrier exclaimed.

" Ah well…I sort of do some grave digging sometimes…" Edge replied.

" Grave digging?"

" Mostly in Morroc. There is still a large number of unexplored segments in the pyramids there, and there used to be a lot of people buried there who were really rich, so they bury themselves with their own personal treasure. Most of the time, there are a lot of dangerous creatures, so most attempts are unsuccessful, but I've been lucky so far," Edge answered. " I can easily clock a million zenny or so a year."

" …Why'd you collect so much cash?" Carrier asked.

" Dunno…maybe I was just bored waiting," Edge replied.

" Waiting for what?" Carrier asked.

" Payback. I mean, my life now is fine and all, but a little payback would be nice," Edge answered, smiling innocently when she said those words. " I mean, that's why you are here for, right?"

" What gave you the idea?" Carrier asked.

" Well, I saw Ghost the other time," Edge answered.

" Really now?" Carrier replied with mock amusement.

" About almost a year ago. I was walking around when I saw him in the market place. I thought I was dreaming or something, but he was there, standing alone, covered in a thick cloak. I suppose he was looking for me, but he left the second I saw him," Edge replied. " I wasn't sure what to do after the siege. When it all died down, Ghost just told us to run and leave, and to stay hidden till the time was right."

" And the time is right. Ghost is gathering the rest of our remaining crew, and we are going to have payback, with added interest. I'm here to ask if you'd like to join us," Carrier replied.

Edge merely clapped her hands happily. " Oh, I'd love to. When do we leave?" Edge asked.

" Whoa, no need to rush," Carrier replied.

" Why not? It's not like you can really sleep over at my place, unless you really don't mind sharing the bed," Edge replied. Carrier looked at her bed, which was just enough to fit her large physique, and he turned red slightly. " I thought so too," she responded.

" Do you need long to pack?" Carrier asked, smiling slightly. " What about your mercenary guild?"

" What about them?" Edge asked. Edge took a backpack and stuffed a few items into her pack, a number of accessories, charms and small tools. She also took a bag of money from a drawer and set a gorgeously made helm on her head, not before looking at him with a big smile. " Well, I am done now. Shall we proceed?" she replied.

ooo

" Where did you get that?" Carrier asked as they exited the place.

" Hmm?" Edge mused, and Carrier traced a line across his face. " Oh, you mean this? I had it for a while now…oh wait, you were not around during the siege. Got a little cut up, no big deal. I think it goes nicely with my other scar. What do you think?"

" Huh, me? Well, I think you look cute either way," Carrier replied.

" Aww, how nice," Edge replied, giving Carrier a big hug.

" Ouch! Hey, I'm as fragile as a twig. Don't break me," Carrier pleaded, feeling a massive build-up of pressure on his ribs. " I'm not sure if you know anything, but have you met up with anyone else? Ghost plans to get as many of us in a short span of time, so anyone will be helpful."

" Um, no…Only saw Ghost the last time. I don't think many of us ran up here towards the north," Edge replied. " Ghost told them to get as far away from our old base as possible, so I assume nobody really thought of coming to Juno."

" Why'd you come here then?" Carrier asked.

" I was too lazy to run off that far," Edge admitted. Carrier merely laughed out loud. " Also, I suppose I'd rather hide in some place I was familiar with, not some unknown town where I did not know my way around."

" Fair enough," Carrier replied.

" Where have you been?" Edge asked.

" In a Morrocan prison," Carrier answered.

" Ouch…why there?" Edge asked.

" Wrong place, wrong time, I suppose," Carrier answered. " I made my way to Morroc, but I got into a little problem with the local assassin guilds, and while I did manage to escape them, I was unfortunately poisoned by one of their blades. I was dying from it, and the only antidote I knew was readily available was with one of the local crime lords. It was either dying in the streets or living the life in a Morrocan prison. It wasn't as if I had much of a choice in the matter."

" I see…" Edge mused. " Urm, who else is coming?"

" Minus you, me and Ghost? 7 others, with any luck. Crimson, Chaos, Black, Spike, Eagle, Grant and Spark," Carrier answered.

" Ooh, feels like one big reunion," Edge exclaimed happily.

" Yeah…too bad there is only ten of us," Carrier replied with a note of sadness to his voice.

" At least it's not all that bad. I think we should be grateful that we are still alive," Edge answered.

" How many of us, besides me, escaped after the attack?" Carrier enquired.

" 37," Edge answered.

" That's not a lot, and it's highly unlikely all of them survived the escape," Carrier sighed.

" Let's not count our chickens just yet," Edge replied.

" Hmm?"

" You are still alive, even though we thought you had died," Edge replied.

" Yeah, I get that a lot," Carrier mumbled.

They had managed to reach back to the spot where Carrier had parked his caravan. The lad who was keeping an eye on the caravan jumped up and waved towards Carrier when he spotted him coming back for his caravan. The Peco Peco merely snapped its beak back at Carrier.

" What's your damn problem, Cook?" Carrier snapped.

" You call your ride Cook?" Edge asked, giggling at the name.

" Yeah, I named him like how we were named. He's Cook cos he's can double as emergency food rations," Carrier answered. Cook squawked loudly, almost in fear. " Yeah, that's right, you overgrown bird. Better get on my good side or else I'll cook you." The Peco Peco didn't make a noise from that moment onwards.

" Were we headed?" Edge asked.

" Payon," Carrier answered. " We'll be meeting the rest there and try to find Chaos."

" Ooh, Chaos!" Edge cooed, almost excitedly.

" You miss her?" Carrier asked, raising an eyebrow. He wasn't aware that they were close before.

" She's so cuddly!" Edge squealed.

" Oh, I see the logic there," Carrier replied, laughing as they rode their caravan, heading out from the city.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Offer**

_10 years ago_

Rain was pouring heavily in the city of Geffen, the local street drains flooded with a heavy flow of water. People were all rushing about, doing their best to avoid the torrent. The very bleak clouds told the local populace that this weather will most likely continue on for some time.

In the midst of this, a lone male scholar could be seen sitting in the library of the Geffen academy, pouring over a few books. The scholar was not a mage or a wizard, but a very young male swordsman. A common misconception was that the magic association didn't allow people who had no affiliation to magic to enter their academy to use their tools. The Geffen Magic Academy opens its arms to the public to visit the Academy, and to make full use of its utilities, like the libraries and labs, in order to cultivate an interest amongst the local population. However, most of the books here were full of so much technical jargon, only the hard-headed enthusiast would even consider walking into the library.

However, the young man was here, reading through some interesting material. The book he was reading was no easy material, and would even make fresh magician recruits cringe at the sight, but the young man was browsing through the book with ease, almost enjoying himself as he filled himself with the knowledge that the book contained.

He liked the library. The Geffen library was proud to boast that they had the largest collection of literature works of all sorts here, and it was no joke that it housed almost all the literature ever written by humans over the course of their existence. Certainly, it was impossible to gather all the books of the world, but Geffen certainly has the best collection of all the books available, old and recent.

The library was divided into sections, a minor wing with two segments and a major wing with 3 segments. The minor wing had books which were more useful for common people, like story books, literature, hobbies, simple information. The second segment contained books for people looking for some challenge in their reading, like advance cooking techniques, or detailed history and culture books. This segment will usually be very crowded most of the time, even at night, as even the scholarly folks would flock this area, sometimes wanting something light to read instead of all the intense textbooks they had to study all the time.

The major wing, mostly known as the 'wizard wing' due to the fact that only wizards were capable of understanding most of the stuff that was located here, was mostly reserved for the people who had some form of brain damage to even consider wanting to browse through this collection. The first segment was the place where most of the academy students would flock to find the needed materials for their research in magic and other lore. Over a hundred massive shelves with over a thousand books in each shelf, there was no shortage of information here. Magicians have been fond of knowledge, and passing down that knowledge was something wizards do very well, sometimes persistently.

The second segment, where the youth was, was a smaller segment than the first segment, but for good reason. This place was a place that housed the most advance concepts and technologies. The massively large textbooks here are even daunting to most of the magic community, but for good reason. This segment has the best of the best books of the entire world, and it was a rule that to ascend to the rank of a High Wizard, one had to make sure one piece of literature makes it into this segment. It doesn't matter whether it's a massive textbook on the latest new spell theory, or a page long essay on theology, but something which was attributed to yourself must be in this segment before the Geffen Magical Academy can grant you the rank of a High Wizard, and it has to be something advance and groundbreaking, at least for your own era. It is no wonder that amongst all the high ranking professional jobs, High Wizards number the least, but it is definitely prestigious.

The final segment is locked up, with a number of potent magic spells kept to keep whatever inside safely inside. Only a select few members of the Board were allowed to access the deepest secrets. Urban legend has it that in this area, beyond the black door of the final segment, the most potent pieces of literature were kept, where it was said that the books contained curses, or that it would drain your life the more you read off it. There are most certainly a number of young mages who are bold enough to try to break into the place, wanting to delve into the deep secrets this segment kept. Of course, there was this other urban legend that said that the only successful break-in into the last segment by a fresh, young novice who got accepted into the Geffen Academy on his second week in ended up in tragedy as he was found dead, with no explained reasons, just at the front of the door. This mostly scared the new mages from trying to break into the place, and the Senior Wizards loved spreading this rumour. Sometimes, an idea worked better than physical deterrents.

" Ah, Professor Russel's Advanced Potions. Interesting read, young chap. Anything of interest in that book you are reading?" a voice called out.

The youth looked up, wondering who had spoken to him. The reason why he liked the deeper sections of the 'wizard wing' was because not many people visit this place. In fact, besides the newcomer, the young man was literally alone. He looked up to see who had spoken to him.

It was a man in his forties, of average height. He was dressed in what looked like robes, slightly familiar to the ones the cardinals in the Church wore, but slightly flashier. He had a crop of graying blue hair, and calm blue eyes. The youth looked at him curiously, not before deciding to entertain him.

" I've been reading through his experiments, and I think they are a bit flawed. The alchemic formula for a potent blue potion is off when he did the second extraction technique by 0.2%, granting a large margin of error by the 4th refinement section, and his awakening potion optimal heating temperature should not be 56 degrees, but 58, however this is definitely due to old techniques and paradigms that made him think as such," the youth answered.

The man merely clapped his hand, almost as if he was congratulating him. " I'm impressed. Not many people can spot the error he did, since his formulas look almost perfect. You are far better than I was told," the man replied.

" It's nothing," the youth answered.

" My name is Alexander Colt. I am a researcher in a certain project, and I was hoping that you could help me with it," Alexander replied. "Do I have the honour of addressing the one and only Colin Greenhilt?"

" The one and only, I suppose," Colin answered.

" It's a pleasure to meet you," Alexander replied, walking over to the spot where Colin was seated and extended his hand. Colin looked a little surprised, and Alexander was a little perplexed as to why he did not return the greeting. " Is…there something wrong?"

As a reply, Colin lifted the cloak he was wearing to keep himself warm in the slightly chilly weather, and Alexander saw his error. Colin's right arm was missing from the shoulder onwards, almost impossible to spot without the cape.

" Forgive me," Alexander replied, correcting himself as he extended his left hand instead.

" No, it's fine. I thought from the way you were speaking to me, you might have known about my disability," Colin answered.

" Is that why you quit being a swordsman?" Alexander asked.

" Yes, in a way. Doesn't help that my right hand was my dominant hand," Colin replied. " But enough about me and my missing hand. You said that you were doing a research, and you needed my help."

" Yes," Alexander answered.

" Before you say anything, you must know that I have no prior training into research, or anything advance like magic, alchemy or scholarship research. To put it bluntly, I am merely a swordsman without an arm," Colin answered.

" True, but you are well versed and knowledgeable in a large number of subjects and professions, are you not?" Alexander asked.

" Well…yes, but I am not sure how I can help…" Colin started.

" My boy, I am not that ridiculous to ask you to help me directly in research. Would be most illogical to ask of you to carry out my experiments. No, what I need is your assistance in carrying out certain tasks. More specifically, I would like you to teach, mostly what you already know, to people, and I wish to study them," Alexander answered.

" …Well, interesting…what is it about then?" Colin asked.

" Oops, before I continue, I need to add something. You see, this research I am carrying out is under order by the Royal Family and the Church, both who require that this research must be kept under wraps, as we wish to be discreet. Even if you are to reject this offer, I must ask that you swear an oath that you will not discuss this with anyone else," Alexander spoke to him sternly.

" Of course. Should I swear now?" Colin asked.

Alexander's face fell slightly. " …You aren't going to question why I am imposing such rules?" Alexander asked.

" If I was the least bit apprehensive about your intentions, we would not be having this conversation," Colin replied. " If you really insist, I will not speak of it unless granted permission or directly asked to by the Higher powers. Is that satisfactory?"

Alexander merely procured a small smile. " Very well, here's my proposition. What we are trying to do is attempt a training module. We were hoping to experiment on young kids and train them when they are young. You see, the average person starts his training as a novice when he or she is 12 or 13, then progresses to a profession of their choice after about 4-5 years of educational and practical training. However, it is mostly observed that a young child's best years for learning are when he is doing his training as a novice, which sometimes is a waste of time as most of the stuff is rudimentary and simple. What we intend to do is to see if training them in the professional jobs at a younger age will have any major differences to their performance," Alexander replied.

" I see. So basically, you wish to see if dropping the novice training age will change their performance, and since you will be using a small number of subjects who will most likely be learning the various professions of sorts, you would like an educator like me to oversee all of them since I am…knowledgeable," Colin replied.

Alexander smiled. " You catch on quick. That is exactly my intention," Alexander replied.

" …You do know my qualifications, right?" Colin asked, raising an eyebrow.

" Yes, and I believe that you are suitable," Alexander replied.

" How long do you intend to run this course?" Colin asked.

" Till they reach maturity, which may take 10-15 years," Alexander answered.

" That's…quite a commitment," Colin noted.

" I know, I know. But, I do not need to hear your answer that soon. I have the facility set up, and it is already up and running. What I need now is manpower to run it optimally. I know this is a very sudden choice, but I'd like you to consider it. Your salary will be substantial, if you choose to accept, and if you would like to learn of any further details, you can contact or write to me. The Church will know how to contact me if you ask them. If you need time to think about it…"

" No need. I accept," Colin answered, interrupting Alexander,

" …You accept?" Alexander muttered, looking incredulously at him.

" I am intrigued by what you are doing, and I accept," Colin replied, smiling slightly.

" When can you leave?" Alexander asked.

" Tomorrow noon," Colin answered.

" The facility is at the outskirts of Juno, near the Schwaltzvalt border. It will take perhaps a 3 day journey," Alexander replied.

" I've walked to Juno alone before. 3 days on a ride is close to a luxury," Colin answered.

" Nothing seems to be fazing you, is it? Nothing to say to your family, perhaps, before you leave?" Alexander asked.

" My father is an alcoholic whose job is to apparently beat me whenever he has the chance, and my mother is the reason why my arm is missing due to loan sharks," Colin answered quietly. " I've already said goodbye 3 years ago."

There was a sight pang of emotion that washed across Alexander's face. " …I understand. I will have one of my attendants pick you up tomorrow noon. I will see you then." With that, he bid Colin farewell, bowing slightly before taking him leave.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Family**

" How's it coming?" an old man sitting by a cart asked to a bunch of boys who were gathering ripe crops in the field.

" It's going well, Mr. Fisher. Looks like a good harvest today. We should be able to meet the supply old Mr. Barber needs. The cabbages are remarkably fresh and crisp," one of the boys replied, carrying back another load of vegetables to put on the cart.

" Ah, what am I supposed to do without you, Sam?" Mr. Fisher laughed.

" Don't worry about it. You aren't as young as you are supposed to be, you know," Sam laughed as he moved off towards the field to collect some more vegetables.

" Don't write me off yet, young one! I might have a trick or two left to show you new greenhorns," Mr Fisher laughed, stopping when he spotted an unknown young man standing next to his cart, observing the boys gathering vegetables in the field. " Hmm, you are not from around these parts. Are you trying to find someone?"

Ghost turned to the old man, smiling slightly. " I am. Do you anyone by the name of Eagle?" Ghost asked.

" Hmm…oh, Eagle…" the old man replied. " Of course I know him. I suspect he might be in town right now. Perhaps I could get one of the boys here to show you the way."

" No need for that, Mr. Fisher. I'm going to find him anyway. Perhaps I could lead the gentleman to him?" a female spoke up, and looking to his left, he spotted a young maiden who had her long and handsome dark brown hair tied in an elegant ponytail, flashing a winning smile at him. She was fairly short, as Ghost was more than a head taller than her.

" Oh, Jessie, that'd be nice," the old man replied.

" Come along, sir. I suppose you know my name is Jessie now. May I know yours?" Jessie asked.

" I'm known as Ghost," Ghost answered.

" Nice to meet you, Ghost," Jessie replied. Ghost frowned slightly. Ghost was most certainly a very odd name for a person, and he felt it was strange that she could accept it so easily. Perhaps she didn't feel too awkward was because Eagle was known as Eagle here, which in itself was an odd name. Perhaps she was guessing he was an old acquaintance of his. If that was really the case, she must be quite bright.

Ghost noticed that she was holding a basket in her arms, and he wondered if she was heading to the market to buy food. She was whistling to herself as she led him towards the town of Izlude. Ghost kept to himself, not in the mood to speak too much.

" I take it that you are a friend of Eagle," Jessie replied, trying to start a conversation. " That's rare. I've never seen anyone from the outside of town ever trying to find him."

Ghost merely kept quiet.

" Not the talkative type, are you?" Jessie noted.

" I tend to observe that I get into less trouble when I keep my mouth shut," Ghost answered.

" Now, that's not the right way to live your life. Every now and then you need to find trouble, just like Eagle. He strangely picks up a lot of bad vices. He smokes quite a bit…well, enough to know the types of tobacco by merely looking at the leaves, or tasting the smoke, drinks quite a bit, likes to generally openly flirt with girls," Jessie replied.

" …That's sounds just like him," Ghost replied, unable to hide a smirk.

" Is that so? I wonder where he picked his habits from," Jessie mused.

" I can assure you it wasn't me," Ghost answered.

" Of course not, I can see it," Jessie replied.

It didn't take long for them to reach Izlude. The satellite city of Prontera was bustling with activity during the afternoon. A large number of kids were running around the place, keeping the place lively. The markets were also busy with a lot of trading going around, especially seafood, as apparently some of the fishermen who fished at the eastern seas had came back with their daily catch. The salty smell was absolutely tantalizing, and Jessie stopped at a couple of stalls to buy some fresh produce.

" Well, there he is! Eagle, you have an old companion here to see you," Jessie exclaimed loudly.

Ghost turned to look at a person at a distance who turned around to look at them. Eagle was their senior in a way, so he was older than most of them, probably about 22 years of age now. He had a tall frame and handsome features, which probably helped in his gallivanting ways, and his silver hair helped accentuate his looks. He didn't seem to change much, having that charming boyish look like he always did. He was dressed like the local farmers, and he even looked like one, with the straw hat on his head as well.

Eagle turned to them, spotting Jessie and giving her a warm smile. His eyes them caught sight of Ghost, and the warmth of his smile seem to slowly ebb away, almost replaced by shock. Ghost merely looked coldly back, knowing his reaction. Eagle continued to look apprehensive, his expression almost set to a look like he was pondering something.

" Oh, is something wrong?" Jessie asked, noticing the tension between them.

" Nothing…it's just…surprising to see you again…" Eagle replied. " Almost as if I'm looking at a ghost…"

" How amusing, Eagle. He tells me his name is Ghost," Jessie added.

" I know…" Eagle replied. After a short while, he took a couple of steps forward and gave Ghost a tight, reassuring hug, his face scrunched with emotions. Ghost felt no hostility from him, but a warm feeling of comradeship. Ghost returned his hug as well, leaving some people staring at the scene.

" Oh, it's good to see you again," Eagle replied. Ghost was smirking at the sight of Eagle, who looked like he was close to tears.

" It's good to see you as well," Ghost replied.

" I suppose it wasn't me dreaming when I spotted you in Prontera 3 months ago," Eagle replied.

" No, it was me," Ghost answered.

" I see…well, I see that you have already met my wife, Jessie. I hope she hasn't been boring you too much, but that can be easily made up with dinner tonight. Jessie is an amazing cook, that I can assure you," Eagle replied.

" Oh, you are such a tease," Jessie laughed, only to catch Ghost's surprised face. " Urm, is something the matter?"

" You are married? !" Ghost exclaimed, almost in horror, his voice louder than he really wanted it to be.

" Yeah, I did always told you I wanted to get kids of my own," Eagle answered in a matter of factly.

ooo

" Yay! Daddy's home!" a pair of cute little kids started shouting excitedly as soon as Eagle open the door of his home, a small wooden house south of Izlude. It was surrounded by small plots of land utilized for farming, and Ghost could see various crops, mostly corn and the local fruits like apples and oranges being grown on the farm. The two young kids were bobbing up and down energetically, a fixed, expecting smile on their faces. While they mostly took after their mom, their green eyes definitely came from Eagle.

" Hey…have you been behaving yourselves?" Eagle replied affectionately, kneeling down to peck them each once on their cheeks.

" We have!" the brother sister pair answered almost in unison. From the looks of their height and ages, it was most likely that they were twins.

" Good! Now go bother daddy's guest!" Eagle replied.

Both the two three year old kids ran up to Ghost and to his surprise, clung onto his thighs, now feeling as if he was walking around with weights. He tried to pry them apart, but their grip was so hard that if Ghost was to force them apart from him, he would definitely need to hurt them to do so. Both of them were giggling as they clung onto Ghost.

" I can definitely see that they take their annoying features from you," Ghost noted.

" What can I say? I'm a great teacher," Eagle replied. " Jessie, why don't you go make us some dinner. Ghost doesn't like anything to spicy or rich…simple, mild stuff will do for him."

" Of course. Come on, kids. Help mommy with dinner," Jessie replied affectionately.

" Yay!" both of them exclaimed, releasing their grip on Ghost's leg and running off towards the kitchen.

" What are their names?" Ghost asked.

" The girl is Lilith, and the boy is Gareth. They are using their mother's surname, Grace, since…well, I don't have one," Eagle replied, smirking slightly.

" So, you are Eagle Grace now?" Ghost asked.

" Yes, but no formalities. I'm more familiar if you address me as per usual," Eagle answered. He walked up to a small cabinet and took out a bottle of spirit, along with two glasses. " Come, let's talk outside. We have things to discuss."

Ghost followed Eagle quietly as he exited the house. Once they were outside, Eagle poured a drink for both of them, and Ghost accepted his share graciously. Eagle then proceeded to flick out a cigarette and light it, drawing a deep breath and exhaling all the smoke from his lungs, letting the narcotics wash all over him. Ghost took a small sip, the spirit apparently very potent enough to give him some pause.

" This is some strong stuff," Ghost replied.

" I know…but you are not here to talk about my favourite drink, are we?" Eagle asked.

Ghost looked solemn. " …No…" he answered.

" …I take it that you are still seeking revenge," Eagle answered.

" Always," Ghost answered.

" And you are here to get my help," Eagle replied.

" Naturally. I always felt safe when I knew you were watching my back," Ghost answered. " You were the one I really had to rely on, even if you were annoying."

Eagle didn't answer. He merely kept smoking his cigarette, taking occasional sips of his drink.

" I'm gathering the rest of the survivors. I do not know how many will join in my endeavors, but if all the survivors that I have managed to locate are willing, there will be ten of us. A far cry from our original numbers, but we will be a force to be reckoned with. Most of all, we will also need your help," Ghost replied.

" …I have a family now," Eagle replied.

" I know…so?" Ghost asked.

" *sigh*…you are not making this easy, you know…" Eagle groaned.

" Shouldn't stop you. I don't see why it should," Ghost answered. " I've been doing my work for the last few years now, and I've narrowed down the list of culprits involved, and I am assembling the rest of the remaining members we have. So far, Black, Spike, Carrier and Crimson are in this with me. We are picking up Edge, Spark, Grant, Chaos and you. Once our preparations are complete, we will seek our vengeance on them."

" …I understand if you have your reservations. You aren't as blood-thirsty as perhaps most of us, and you have a family, and I have absolutely no guarantee that I can bring you back into Jessie's sweet arms in one piece. If you do not want to come, I won't force you to. You have a choice," Ghost replied.

Eagle was slightly lost in thought. Ghost allowed the words to sink in. He didn't really consider that some of his old friends would be hesitant to this course of action after the betrayal they had gone through. Ghost felt a little guilty now for even coming here.

" …Can I ask a question?" Eagle asked after what felt like a very long while.

" Anything," Ghost responded.

" Carrier's alive?" Eagle asked.

Ghost burst out laughing, unable to contain himself, while Eagle merely looked annoyed while puffing on his cigarette. " I'm asking you to come along with me on a dangerous mission to kill people, and this is what you really wanted to know?" Ghost asked.

" I was under the impression he died. Actually, all of us were," Eagle answered.

" Well, he's alive, and as noisy as ever," Ghost answered.

" That is indeed good news," Eagle replied.

" …So…what do you say?" Ghost asked, returning to his topic.

" When do you need my answer?" Eagle asked.

" Tomorrow morning. It will be then when I will leave and not bother your family again," Ghost replied.

" …I'll give you my answer then," Eagle replied, not before going back into his house, leaving Ghost standing at the porch.

ooo

" Yay! Fish!" Both Lilith and Gareth shouted excitedly as they sat themselves at the dinner table, rocking back and forth excitedly. Seafood was slightly more expensive in Izlude, even if it is close to the sea where a large number of fishermen carry out their daily occupation due to supply rationing by the country. So, it was natural the kids would be excited to have something rare for dinner tonight. " Fishy tonight!"

" Keep it down kids," Eagle spoke, entering the dining room along with Ghost.

" Well, dinner is served," Jessie replied, placing several dishes on the table, the main course was steamed fish with local herbs and sauce. Ghost wasn't one to derive much pleasure from food, but he was amazed at how the dinner meal looked really appetizing to him. " Very well. Dig in."

"…No dinner prayers?" Ghost laughed.

" You know I am an atheist," Eagle replied, as both Lilith and Gareth started to feast on their meals as Jessie passed them their portions. " And so are you."

" Just checking…" Ghost replied. " Thank you for dinner. The fish looks excellent."

" Mommy cooks well, doesn't she?" Lilith spoke up, breaking up into a grin at Ghost.

" Yes, she does," Ghost responded.

" Hey Mister, what do you work as?" Gareth asked.

"…Me?" Ghost mused. " Well, I work as a…mercenary."

" What is a mercenary?" Lilith asked.

" Hmm…well, people pay me to do anything," Ghost answered.

" Does this mean if I give you my previous teddy bear, you will do whatever I ask?" Lilith asked.

" Perhaps, but I'm on a break now," Ghost answered.

" Does this mean you are not working?" Gareth asked.

" Yes, for now…" Ghost answered.

Gareth and Lilith looked at each other with puzzled expressions, and Ghost wondered if he had said something wrong. Gareth looked back at Ghost and replied " My daddy and mommy never take breaks from their work…are you a bit lazy, Mister?" Ghost could see Eagle and Jessie giggled while they enjoyed the spectacle. Ghost felt a little awkward.

" Just kidding!" Both Gareth and Lilith exclaimed all of a sudden, sticking out their tongues playfully. " It's okay to be lazy. Daddy doesn't do anything most of the time anyway!"

" Hey, don't make me look bad in front of my friend," Eagle groaned.

Ghost couldn't help but smile at his children's antics. " Did you put them up to it?" Ghost asked Eagle.

" I did, actually," Jessie answered, smiling at them. " But Eagle, you are paying for their ice cream…"

" Sly fox…" Eagle muttered, taking a sip from the apple juice provided.

" So, when will you be leaving?" Jessie asked.

" Tomorrow. I don't want to trespass too long," Ghost answered.

" I wasn't directing the question to you, Ghost," Jessie responded.

There was a clatter of utensils, and both Gareth and Lilith looked up towards Eagle, who looked slightly shocked at a still smiling Jessie. Ghost figured this was one hell of an awkward dinner conversation.

" …I thought you were cooking dinner," Eagle replied, looking angry.

" I was," Jessie answered, still smiling.

" Is daddy and mommy fighting?" Lilith asked timidly.

" …No, mommy and daddy aren't fighting," Eagle responded, his tone much softer this time.

" Mr. and Mrs. Barracks got in a fight once, and they don't live with one another anymore," Lilith noted.

" …We are not fighting," Eagle confirmed again.

" Daddy is just going to be taking a job," Jessie replied.

" …Really? But…I thought he helps you in the farm?" Gareth responded.

" Mister Ghost is going to be doing something difficult, and he needs daddy's help, so daddy is going to help him. The thing is, this is going to be a very difficult and long job, so daddy is worried he won't be seeing you two pumpkins and mommy in a while, and that's why he's hesitating," Jessie replied, not before looking at Eagle and Ghost. " Isn't that right?"

" That's very bad, daddy," Lilith spoke up all of a sudden.

" …Huh?" Eagle mused.

" Is Mister Ghost a good friend of daddy?" Gareth asked.

" …Yes, sort of…" Eagle answered, scratching his head.

" Then you should help him. It's very bad to not help your good friend. Mister Ghost came all the way here to ask for your help. If daddy doesn't help Mister Ghost, then daddy is a bad daddy," Lilith spoke up. " …Daddy is not bad daddy, right?"

Eagle looked at Ghost, who was trying to avoid looking at Eagle, to Jessie who was merely smiling at him, to his two kids, who were looking at him with expecting expressions in hope of him saying the correct answer.

" Of course, daddy's not a bad daddy," Eagle answered.

" Yay! Daddy is a good daddy! Mister Ghost, you agree, don't you? Daddy is a good daddy, right?" Gareth asked.

" Yes, he is," Ghost answered.

" Yay!" Both kids exclaimed.

ooo

" Dinner was yummy!" Gareth exclaimed.

" Fishy was yummy!...I feel sorry for fishy though," Lilith replied, sounding slightly regretful.

" Kids, why don't you go to the nearby pond and go catch a frog?" Jessie suggested.

The kids looked as though Christmas had come early, and Jessie merely nodded her head. Both of them jumped out of their chairs and ran out the front door, giggling as they went. Dinner was over, and there was nothing left on the dishes, as the two children's appetite were voracious. Jessie collected the dishes and got up to wash them. Ghost started to get up from his chair to help, but Jessie stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder.

" No need for that," Jessie replied. " Please just relax."

Ghost did as he was told. Jessie was making him awkward, and Eagle looked uncomfortable in his seat as well. There was no question as to who was the boss of this house.

" Jessie…" Eagle started.

" Please don't say anything," Jessie replied as she washed the dishes, the plates clattering almost noiselessly. " I've known you for a long time now, Eagle…well, 4 years isn't that overly long if you think about it, but enough to understand you in and out. I know about your past, and I can really only think of one reason why your friend Ghost showed up today."

Eagle and Ghost sat quietly at the dinner table, feeling like they were being lectured by their mother for not finishing their vegetables.

" You've never let your past go. There are scars that are etched inside of you, and they are hurting you. I know what they are, and you've told me what happened to the rest of your friends. And you've never forgiven yourself since they day I found you," Jessie replied. " Jessie replied. " Go, I won't stop you, and I understand why you need to go."

" Jessie…" Eagle spoke.

" Please, Eagle. You want to go, and you need to go. Why are we even arguing about this?" Jessie replied. " All I ask is that you come back in once piece. You can do that, right?"

" …I suppose I can," Eagle replied.

Jessie walked over the Eagle and gave him a soft peck on his cheeks. " When you are done, bring the rest of your companions over. I'll cook them a feast," Jessie replied, rubbing her cheeks softly against him. She then left Eagle and Ghost alone as she went back to washing her dishes.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Findings**

Crimson was wolfing down her Bigfoot steak like a rabid, hungry canine, her sharp teeth tearing through the tough steak like it was made of paper. She didn't bother using the knife either. She merely stabbed the steak with a large fork and feasted off the meat. The alchemist sitting opposite here merely looked at her with slight disgust, having only a small pancake for himself.

" Geez, you could cut down on the intake, or at the very least, take it slow," Grant spoke up. " …Besides, this is your tea?"

" What? You've only got a weak appetite, that is all," Crimson said, her mouth full of meat.

" Nobody I know eats as much as you do for that body size. We have to cut you open and see how the hell does your body consume this much food," Grant spoke. " Oh, she's back…"

Crimson looked up to see a figure sit down on the spare chair in front of them. She wore a thick cape with a large hood, so most of her face was covered. The part of her lower chin and her mouth peeked out from her hood. Despite her get-up, nobody around the café seemed to bother about this lone person.

" How'd it go? Good?" Crimson asked. The new person merely nodded her head in affirmation. " Guess that is one thing settled then. Good to have you with us, Chaos."

Crimson figured that she was really lucky. After picking up Grant from Alberta, both of them headed straight for Payon to wait for the rest and search for Chaos. Ghost had implied that Chaos will be difficult to find, but in fact, Chaos was almost expecting them to come. Chaos met up with them the moment they step foot into Payon, surprising even Crimson and Grant.

Chaos sat down quietly at the table, and Crimson and Grant looked at her awkwardly as she kept still. Most of them, even back in the days, felt Chaos was a bit of an oddity. She was unusually quiet, and although not particularly unsociable, she will almost never speak unless prompted to. She disliked showing herself to other people, perhaps really taking her profession to heart, since nobody could actually remember what Chaos actually looks like since has yet to ever fully expose her face. She will at least conceal her upper half or the lower half of her face, so to be brutally honest, the only reason that they could confirm that the person sitting at the table was Chaos was only because she acted like the Chaos they knew.

" This silence is awkward…what should we actually say to her?" Crimson whispered to Grant.

" …You do realize that she can hear us? She's got damn good hearing, have you not forgotten?" Grant whispered back.

" If you are such a smartass, why don't you deal with this awkward situation?" Crimson snapped back angrily, causing people around the café to look at her.

" How's Payon been so far?" Grant spoke up.

" …Quiet. Haven't done much…large place….kept low profile…nice place. I like it here…" Chaos answered. The look on Crimson and Grant's face was of pure shock.

" Grant, you little dick, she said 15 words! I haven't heard her speak so much at one go before! She's stressing herself out to keep up with this random small talk! Apologise to her!" Crimson snapped at Grant, grabbing him by the lapels of his jacket and shaking him violently until he was rocking back and forth in his seat.

" You were the one who suggested it…stop, you are making me dizzy," Grant replied. " Are you actually smiling?"

Crimson and Grant turned to look at Chaos, where a faint trace of a smile could be seen in her lips. Another very odd thing about Chaos is that she rarely shows any emotion. It would usually take some major event for her to show some form of expression, and nobody could actually remember Chaos ever laughing before. It was a joke, which some of their Archangel members took seriously, that the first person to make Chaos laugh would be able to marry her. Strange thing was, Chaos agreed, and considering her default behavior, she apparently took this joke seriously.

" …Oh, I think she thinks you are funny.." Crimson replied sarcastically.

" When are you going to start laughing? I mean, you are bound to start laughing at some point," Grant replied. Chaos merely shook her head slightly. " …Have you actually laughed at some point in life?"

Strangely enough, Chaos nodded her head.

" Oh, you did? Who made you laugh? Tell me!" Crimson replied excitedly.

" Ghost," Chaos answered.

ooo

" Are those still functional?" Ghost asked.

" Hmm?" Eagle mused, not sure what was Ghost talking about all of a sudden.

Ghost pointed towards the revolvers Eagle had slung on his belt, and he understood Ghost's concern. They were his custom made revolvers which had served him ever since he started to learn how to fire a gun. Eagle was a fairly sentimental guy, and every other gun felt out of place when he used them unless he had his trusty pair of Gesphents. However, the model was an old one, and even if it was custom made, it was over 10 years old and has seen excessive use over the years.

Eagle merely patted them affectionately. " Don't worry about these babies. They will work just fine," Eagle answered, grinning mischeviously.

" …I hate it when you grin," Ghost replied. " Makes me feel like you are up to something."

" You know what is your problem, Ghost? You just hate absolutely everything about this world. Pretty much 80% of every named thing in this universe is on your hit list. You need to enjoy life," Eagle replied, pouting slightly. " You need to smile more."

Ghost turned to Eagle and gave him a creepy looking grin.

" Stop that, you know nobody likes that shit," Eagle replied.

" I absolutely refuse to believe this! Ghost has got to be the last person who can make Chaos laugh! I won't have this vile little snake corrupt our good, sweet and innocent Chaos!" Crimson could be heard shouting at them. " Ghost, explain yourself!"

" What the hell is wrong with you? I swear, the four years have turned you a little nuts," Grant replied. " Either that that steak you ate is giving you an allergic reaction. I propose we carry out some chemical tests to find out the cause for your craziness."

Turning around, both Eagle and Ghost spotted Crimson and Grant behind them, with Chaos inconspicuously standing behind them. Grant looked like he was doing well. Grant was with the same batch as Eagle, so their age was about the same. He was an alchemist by profession, but he dislikes alchemy and potion making for whatever the reason. Grant admitted that he would have preferred to become a sage, but nobody knew particularly why he didn't bother switching.

" Yo, Chaos, you look real pretty this time around," Eagle spoke up, and Chaos merely nodded her head in reply.

" …Would you mind stop hitting on her? It does make her uncomfortable," Ghost noted.

" Yeah, hit on me instead! Why don't you ever hit on me?" Crimson snarled in response.

" I make it a habit to only hit on females," Eagle proudly exclaimed.

" …I'll kill you…slowly…" Crimson responded, gritting her teeth.

" This is horrible. You didn't even greet me. I thought we were buddies, Eagle," Grant mused.

" Oh, we are buddies alright!" Eagle exclaimed, throwing an arm around Grant's shoulder.

" Not that close, dumbass," Grant responded.

" Well, it's good that we could meet up, and you all found Chaos faster than I expected," Ghost replied. " This is going better than I planned. I suppose we have to wait for Edge and Carrier to arrive."

" Man, I can't believe it when Crimson told me Carrier was alive. It was kind of a revelation," Grant replied. " I figured he was dead."

" I've been getting that a lot," someone spoke up.

" …Speak of the devil," Ghost replied.

Carrier and Edge waved at them as they walked across the eastern side of Payon, carrying a bunch of paper bags with them. Their difference in height was really noticeable, with Edge pretty much towering all over Carrier. Ghost wasn't sure whether his eyes were playing tricks on him or not, but Carrier apparently looked like he was carrying a couple of extra rings now. Crimson ran up to Edge and gave her an affable hug while Edge merely grinned childishly back, while Eagle and Grant patted Carrier on his head.

" Man, did you become shorter the last time I saw you?" Eagle spoke up.

" Glad to see that you aren't dead," Grant responded. " Guess you really have a knack of surviving impossible situations, even death."

" While all of this is a wonderful reunion, you idiots are getting on my nerves," Carrier replied.

"…Glad you are alive…" Chaos replied quietly.

" That's somewhat refreshing. At least she's not skeptical about me being dead," Carrier huffed. " Thank you very much, Chaos."

" You have to admit, it's kinda hard to survive from being torn apart by a massive explosion and survive 10 tons of concrete, even for our standards," Eagle responded. " I think a much more apt name for you would be Cockroach."

" …Feels like I am getting back my old job being the butt of all jokes back," Carrier replied, sounding disappointed.

" I think you are funny when you are the butt of all jokes," Edge replied, patting him on his head.

" You are absolutely not helping me at all," Carrier groaned.

" You guys know what we are up to, right?" Ghost asked the newcomers.

" Of course, wouldn't miss it for the world!" Edge exclaimed.

" Well, had to come, right? Crimson insisted anyway," Grant answered.

" Hey!"

" Vengeance…would be nice…" Chaos quietly muttered.

" So, what's the next plan?" Grant asked.

" Setting up a base," Ghost answered.

" A base?" Edge mused, raising an eyebrow.

" We will need a base of operations, just like we used to. It will be easier to coordinate things when we have a proper place. I've actually managed to pick a place, and by far the most suitable one is nicely suited in Payon. It's an old castle somewhere towards the northern side of Payon where nobody seems to visit. Nobody has lived there for a while, so besides the massive cleaning we have to do, we can use it," Ghost replied.

" No need to clean it…" Chaos replied.

" Hmm? Why is that?" Ghost asked.

" …It's my home…" Chaos spoke.

Ghost looked thoroughly surprised. " Wow, fancy that. Bet you visited the place more than once and not notice she was there, huh?" Carrier chided him. " Well, that makes things easy for us. You don't mind if we renovated the place, right?" Chaos merely shook her head.

" Come on then, I want to see where Chaos lives," Crimson exclaimed energetically.

ooo

The castle where Chaos had made her home was really off the beaten track. All of them had to pass through a dense track of forest, not something people in general would use. Chaos led the way, moving by jumping from one branch of a tree to another. Her light, agile body allowed her to traverse the treetops, and the trees were in such close proximity that she had no trouble finding trees to move along with.

However, since the rest had to march through the forest at ground level, Chaos had to pause occasionally to wait for them to catch up. Ghost was cutting a patch with a small sword which he had brought along, and Edge was helping him as well. Normally, one of them would be enough to clear a path, but they were bringing in their supplies they had brought from Morroc, which meant they had to carve a way for their caravans that they brought along from Morroc as well, which took some time to do.

" Is business good in Alberta?" Eagle asked Grant.

" Well, not too bad. The problem is that there are quite a large number of alchemist shops in Alberta as well, most of them top notch. Competition is quite fierce, and I am not the kind of guy who really likes to advertise my wares actively, so I suppose not as good as I am suppose to hit," Grant admitted.

" I can do advertising. You can hire me, and I'll get you all the customers you need. You'll be swimming in cash in no time," Carrier piped up.

" That's nice, but I'd rather have a female assistant, mind you," Grant replied.

" Told you he's out for tits," Carrier whispered to Crimson.

" And why are you telling me this?" Crimson snapped back.

" Looks like we are here," Ghost noted.

All of them moved up to observe the castle. It was fairly run down, but despite the obvious lack of maintenance, it was still in good shape. It had a fortified wooden wall surrounding it, which was typical Payonese since wood here was far cheaper and more available than other forms of building material, like stone or cement. A large number of vines had been growing on the wall, causing it to look quite green, along with the moss that was stuck on it. The interior was quite spacious, about 200 by 100 meters in dimension, with the main building taking up about 1/3 of the space at the rear end. Predictably, it was made of wood as well, but it was still in good shape. The wood used to make the castle was definitely of high quality, and judging from the simple rustic shape, it was built about perhaps 50 to 60 years ago, fairly young age for the average castle.

Entering through the front, they noticed that there was a lack of a gate. From the structural design of the entrance, it was built to accommodate a gate, but it was removed, either due to destruction or choice. The castle grounds were lined with simple stone tiles, most of them cracked but still in place. Up close now, they could see that the castle was 3 floors high, all floors having the same dimension as the rest of the other floors.

" Nice place. How's it like?" Edge asked. Chaos kept quiet, not bothering to answer as she continued to look at the castle. Ghost made a clicking noise under his breath, knowing that she was expecting him to answer instead of him.

" Three floors. The ground floor has a fairly large lobby area, with the kitchen and dining area situated directly at the back. There is a large section on the west side which was probably for a library, but it's empty now. The east side is a massive storage area. The second and third floors are mostly residential areas, with the larger rooms on the second floor, with I believe if my memory serves me correctly, 3 master sized rooms. The third floor has a few workshop type rooms, so if Grant needs it for his alchemy he can use them. Mostly a fairly simple layout," Ghost explained.

" Underground level…" Chaos quietly muttered.

" Huh?" Eagle mused.

" Oh yeah…there is a small underground section which serves as a mini dungeon of sorts. Also, there is an underground escape path, which is kind of hard to traverse through," Ghost replied.

" Neat, I kinda like this place," Edge replied.

" Dibs on the master bedroom!" Carrier shouted.

" …It's mine…" Chaos quietly answered.

" Aww, sorry about that. Is there a second master bedroom?" Carrier asked.

Chaos nodded her head. " Yes, you can have it," Chaos answered.

Carrier punched his hands excitedly in the air. " Awesome! I knew I could always count on you, Chaos! Thanks a bunch!" Carrier exclaimed, laughing happily.

" Who said you can have whatever bedroom you like?" Ghost replied, looking annoyed.

" I did…" Chaos replied.

" I know, but…" Ghost started to argue.

" This is …my house…my rules," Chaos answered, all of a sudden sounding very cold and distant. There was no change in her tone, but the rest of them can sense it somehow. Chaos was mostly understanding, and sometimes a slight doormat when it comes to doing favours to her comrades, but when she places her foot down, she can be stubborn. " …Any further arguments?"

" Alright, I'm sorry…it is your place, and I have just converted it to our base of operations. Must be a lot of hassle. I apologise. If we have any placements, I'll be sure to consult you first," Ghost apologized honestly.

" Hahaha, is this your first time not having things go your way?" Eagle laughed.

" Well, Chaos sure is awesome, if she can actually beat Ghost through submission by words alone," Crimson noted.

" Are you done making fun of me already?" Ghost asked.

" What's with the frumpy face? Not used to being beat?" Grant asked.

" Well, I don't care about that. I'm cool if I can get the next biggest room here," Carrier replied.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Unwilling**

Chaos woke up the moment the sun peaked from behind the horizon. Pushing back the covers of her small, straw bed, she got up and started to stretch her body. The last two days have been a little odd, having her old comrades staying in the old, slightly run down abandoned castle. They have been moving things into the new place, and have taken up rooms on the second floor. There was a lot of work during the last two days, as there was a lot of cleaning, fixing and maintenance to be done. Chaos figured that most of them would be still asleep at this point in time.

Very quickly, she fastened her ninja attire, not before throwing her cloak over her body to cover most of it up. Exiting the room, she quickly made her way down to the lower levels, with nobody around in sight. However, the smell of what smelt like baked bread that was floating out from the kitchen seemed to indicate at least one of them was awake. Moving very quietly, she headed towards the kitchen, and peeking inside, she came face to face with Carrier who was about to walk out of the kitchen carrying a tray with freshly baked bread.

Needless to say, Carrier gave a loud cry of surprise, slipped slightly, throwing the tray up into the air, along with all the bread.

In an instant, Chaos whipped out a kunai, stabbing the metal tray right in the middle to stabilize it, not before perfectly catching all the buns. Carrier was quite impressed as he saw her reflexes, which were abnormally fast.

" Sorry…" Chaos apologized.

" Oh, no big deal. My fault for being careless anyway," Carrier responded, taking the tray off her. " You are up early. Are you hungry or something?"

" I'm always up early…" Chaos replied.

" I never notice," Carrier replied. " …By the way, where did you keep your kunai? Do you normally carry weapons even at home?"

To reply his question, Chaos opened her cloak, revealing her slightly body-hugging attire. Carrier's eyes subconsciously moved towards her supple assets, not before seeing her slip the kunai in-between her breasts, covering herself up with the cloak when she was done.

" …I am not particularly sure whether I should be worried about you accidentally cutting yourself, or be laughing about it," Carrier noted. " Do you carry anything else between those breasts of yours?"

" …Yes," Chaos answered.

" …I'll leave that for next time," Carrier replied. " Hungry?"

Chaos nodded her head. " Well, I made enough for the rest of them, but if they don't want to come down here while its hot, it's their own damn fault. Come on, I went out just now to gather some local fruits to make some jam. Should go well with our bread," Carrier replied.

Chaos watched him as he took the tray, and a messy looking bottle jar, and led them towards the dining area, where they had managed to finish their makeshift dining table yesterday. Seating himself comfortably, he motioned to Chaos to do the same, and took a bun each.

" Aw snap, I forgot the knives," Carrier mused, only for Chaos to procure two sharp surgical looking knives out of nowhere. " …You are always a walking storage box. Did you keep these in your breasts as well?"

Chaos didn't really answer. Carrier was feeling slightly guilty if he was somewhat embarrassing her, although with her mostly expressionless face it was hard to tell. Chaos quickly sliced her bun in two, and spread some jam on it. It was more of a fruit paste than real jam, since Carrier had like an hour to prepare it beforehand.

" Haven't cooked in a while, so I must apologise if it tastes funny," Carrier replied, tending to his own bun.

" It's good…" Chaos answered.

" You are patronizing me," Carrier responded laconically.

However, he realized that this wasn't true. Chaos was smiling slightly while she ate, as if she was enjoying herself. " Glad that you are enjoying it…" Carrier replied.

" You two on a date or something? You could have called us if you were making breakfast," Crimson suddenly replied, followed by Grant and Edge as they walked into the room.

" I figured the smell would wake you up," Carrier replied.

" Hey, this is pretty good," Edge replied, chewing on a bun, not bothering with the jam.

" Hmm, is that so?" Grant mused, taking a bun for himself. " Hey, she's right. This is good. Who knew Carrier could cook? Why don't we put him in charge of dealing with our meals?"

" What? This is ridiculous! I have to cook three meals for 7 people each day? I'm not doing it!" Carrier snapped.

" No, you do it. Good meals and a proper diet will be essential for us to keep running. It will be much cheaper than if we keep buying out. After all, this within the Payon forests, I'm sure there are enough supplies that we can get for free," Ghost replied as he walked in the dining room along with Eagle.

" Hey, you are up!" Crimson replied.

" You make me sound as if I am some sort of a lazy bum," Ghost retorted. "…There doesn't seem like there are enough buns for everyone…"

" Damn it, there is more in the kitchen. Go get it yourselves, you thieving vultures!" Carrier snapped.

ooo

" We are going to Geffen? Sounds like a very long journey," Crimson complained.

" I've told Spike and Black to meet us in Geffen. I suspect they are done with their tasks and they are already waiting for us there. Besides, we need to head there to recruit our final member, Spark," Ghost replied.

" Why can't Black and Spike pick up that idiot and bring him here?" Crimson replied. " I'm feeling kinda lazy to go all the way there to pick them up."

" I've got our reasons to go there," Ghost replied.

" Mind telling us?" Crimson asked.

" You'll know when we get there," Ghost answered.

" Are you just not telling us because you don't actually have a reason to drag us all there?" Crimson asked. Ghost ignored her and walked out. " Don't ignore me, you little rascal!"

" Are we having a lover's quarrel so early in the morning now?" Eagle asked.

" Shut it…" Crimson snarled.

" Ah, talking about lovers, you are married now, aren't you?" Carrier piped up.

" Sure…my wife is a real babe, unlike some people I know," Eagle replied, laughing slightly.

He suddenly found a powerful arm wrapping itself around his neck. " What was that? You talking about me?" Edge snarled, tightening her grip on his neck.

" Wait, I wasn't talking about you…" Eagle gasped, trying to break free, only to have someone socking him in the gut.

" Then you must mean me!" Crimson replied, punching him as Edge held onto him.

" What's up with these crazy bitches?" Eagle groaned.

" Geez, man…what's with all the noise?" Grant asked, walking to the outside compound. He spotted Edge and Crimson beating up Eagle, and he shot him a disapproving look. " How does he do it? Our group now has like less than 10 people and he still finds trouble with females in the morning."

" So how are we getting there? Caravan again?" Carrier asked.

" Nope," Ghost answered, jiggling a sizable bag containing zenny with his fingers. " I figure since we are kinda loaded, we may as well purchase the services of the Kafra guide."

ooo

In the middle of the afternoon, the Geffen Academy library was packed with students and people alike, all browsing through the extensive literature available for them. A lone sage could be seen sitting in the middle of the library, taking up an entire table for himself, with multiple textbooks piled upon the table, some of the opened up, and he was busy scribbling notes from them. His figure was mostly obscured from the pile of books, but he was mysteriously able to spot an approaching wizard, getting up from his chair to meet him.

" Oh, you are back? How'd it go?" a sage exclaimed upon seeing a messy looking wizard with a tired looking face walk up to him. " …Hmm, not as well as I was hoping it might go, I suppose."

" Well, the old geezer needs the work done soon. I don't think I can keep up with this workload," the wizard sighed.

" You need to ease up, and eat something. When was the last time you actually had a meal?" the sage asked.

" …Lunch…yesterday…" the wizard replied sheepishly.

" You need to take care of yourself more, James. You'll kill yourself from studying, although that arguably won't be the first," the sage replied. " Look, I'll check up on the experiment for you, okay? Go get a break, and have a bite or something. I'll inform you about it later."

" …I…" James attempted to argue.

" James, I am ordering you to go get some rest and something to eat, whichever order is fine with me. You are going to do it, and you are going to do it now," the sage replied, his voice dripping slightly with a tone of anger.

" Okay…" James answered.

" Off you go then. I'll tell you about it later, okay?" the sage replied, as James gave him a smile and nodded his head. Making a mental note to himself to check on the experiment later, the sage returned to what he was previously doing, sitting himself back onto his seat, except he sensed that he was sitting on something odd. Apparently, someone was else was sitting in his seat.

" Gah!" the sage gave a loud cry of exclamation, granting him looks from the other library users, and a cold, hard glare from the librarian. " Hey, what's the big idea, sitting in my…"

The sage stopped mid-sentence when he saw who it was sitting in his seat. Ghost smiled back at the sage, who was about a foot shorter than he was, although he was as well-built as Ghost was, which was quite surprising for a magic user. The sage looked like he was lost for words.

" What? It looks like you've seen a ghost," Ghost replied.

" Haha, very funny, Ghost. The four years apart hasn't improved your jokes," the sage replied.

Ghost seemed to be observing the sage's attire, as if he was appraising him, and the sage looked slightly annoyed at the way he was looking at him. " …You are a sage now? Was being a wizard that bad?" Ghost asked.

" Pfft, what's wrong with a slight change of profession? I'm still a wizard at heart," the sage replied.

" You don't particularly seem happy to see me," Ghost answered.

" You do realize I hate your guts. I was half-hoping that you would die some point after the siege of our base. Looks like I didn't pray hard enough," the sage replied.

" I suppose you didn't," Ghost replied, standing up. " It's good to see you again, Spark. The rest of the guys are waiting outside. Come, we've got things to discuss."

Spark exited the library along with Ghost, following him quietly along, heading towards the main square where the fountain was located. Upon reaching the spot, Spark managed to spot a few recognizable faces. Eagle and Grant were speaking with one another, while Carrier was sharing some buns with Edge and Crimson while a hooded figure whom he figured was either Chaos or Brace watched the proceedings with disinterest. All of them took notice of Spark and Ghost when they arrived, and Spark was mobbed by the entire group within seconds.

" Hahaha, it's Spark!" Edge exclaimed, giving Spark a big hug.

" Ow…" Spark moaned, feeling quite an immense amount of pressure being applied around his body as Edge hugged him. " …Nice to see you too…"

" Good to see you, old pal," Eagle replied, slapping him on his back. " Made any new spells yet, smartass?"

" If you must know, I have," Spark replied, trying to disengage himself from Edge.

" Maybe you can show it to us later," Grant replied.

" Heh…so…Ghost, Crimson, Grant, Eagle, Edge…uh, Carrier…man, am I surprised to see you. I thought you died back then," Spark replied, and Carrier responded by grinding his teeth as loudly as he could possibly could. " …Is that Chaos or Brace? I can't really tell with that heavy cloak get-up."

" Chaos is female, and Brace is a guy. I think it should be obvious how to differentiate them, even if they do wear clothes to cover their bodies in such a fashion," Crimson replied. Spark merely smiled at her.

" Well, I'm glad to see that you all are alive and well. Did you all come to pay me a visit? I'd invite you to my place, but it won't fit all of you in it," Spark replied.

" Forget your place, you should check out our new base. It's an abandoned base in Payon, but it's really cool. I got dibs on the master bedroom though, so tough luck for you," Carrier responded. " Not like the old feeling from our old base, but it works just as well."

" Neat…" Spark responded. " …Look, I assume…you all have some ulterior motive in visiting me in such a fashion…"

" Yeah, you got that right," Eagle answered.

" …Are…you all out for revenge?" Spark asked.

The expression on most of their faces fell, since from the tone of Spark's voice, he could deduce what he was after, and he was reluctant to be part of their plan. Spark looked guiltily at all of them, almost as if he was asking for their forgiveness.

" What?...Whoa, hang on. You know what they did to us, right Spark? You were part of us, our group. You don't want payback?" Carrier asked, sounding disappointed.

" I understand your feelings, and I too want justice, but I know that the incident with our comrades will never go public, the higher authorities will never see to it. So, logically, there is only one way to do this: our way," Spark answered. " …I don't want to kill anyone."

" Huh?" Crimson mused.

" I suppose that was what we were made to be: soldiers. But…I really don't want to be part of that life anymore. I've tried being ordinary here in Geffen…well, as ordinary as I can attempt to be, and I enjoy it. I do not have the compulsion, or the conscience, to want to kill again," Spark answered, hanging his head slightly.

" Tch, that's so…" Crimson spoke.

" Enough!" Ghost snapped suddenly. The rest of them looked at him apprehensively, like he was about to give a speech or something. " I didn't come with the expectation of recruiting you all for my little vendetta. If need be, I would have just done this on my own. We have our own lives to deal with, so there is no real need to risk it with me. If Spark doesn't want to come with us, he has the right to do so. If he wants to have a normal life, then he should have the right to do so, and not follow us because of any obligation. I suppose I should have told all of you this when we first started off, but I suppose all of you were just eager to follow me."

" …I wasn't…" Carrier spoke up in-between a pause.

" I hate your balls, so you don't have any say in the matter," Ghost replied. " Don't worry, Spark, we won't hold it against you. Tell you what, when this is over, we will drop by and see how you are doing."

" That'll be nice…" Spark replied. " …I'm sorry…"

" There is no need to apologise," Ghost replied.

" …You won't be worried that I might alert the authorities that you'll be up and about killing random people?" Spark asked.

" I know that you won't. Even if you are a pacifist now, you still don't like the bastards who destroyed us," Edge replied.

" True…" Spark replied.

ooo

" Who were they?" James asked.

" Oh, James, I didn't see you there. Why are you still here?" Spark replied, turning around to see James right behind him. The rest of his companions were now leaving, talking to each other in a large collective group.

" I forgot my pack I left at the library, so I doubled back to get it. Were they your friends?" James asked, looking at the group. They certainly looked like an odd bunch together, but James didn't want to comment on it.

" Yeah…people I knew from some time ago," Spark replied.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Journey**

_10 years ago_

Colin was alerted from his nap when he heard a knock on his door. Getting up, he opened the door, only to be greeted by a very young looking girl, possibly 14 or 15 years of age. She had bright pink hair, although Colin suspected that it wasn't her natural hair colour. She was dressed in a very exotic looking attire, a thick silk vest with flora embroidery sewn on, and flowing long pants. There was a very energetic look on her face as she smiled warmly at him.

" Hi, you must be Colin Greenhilt. I'm Amanda Sprint, and I am one of Mr. Colt's assistants. I'm here to escort you to our training facility in Juno. Are you ready to go?" she asked.

" Indeed," Colin replied.

" …Are you going to get your stuff?" Amanda asked.

" I already have," Colin answered.

Amanda took a good look at him. He was dressed in standard swordsman attire, with a cotton shirt underneath his leather armour. He wore a short, very disused mantle, and he was carrying a small pack on his back that was probably enough to fit two spare sets of clothing, assuming he was carrying nothing else.

" You sure pack light," Amanda noted.

" Hahaha, don't worry about me. I can get more supplies when we are at Juno. I mean, I'm allowed to go out and shop, right?" Colin replied.

" Sure thing. Well, come on. Birdbrain is getting impatient," Amanda replied.

" Birdbrain? I'm assuming you are referring to the Peco Peco that will be pulling our transport to Juno," Colin ventured.

" Hmm, I wonder what gave that away…" Amanda replied sheepishly.

Both of them exited Colin's abode, which was a small room he rented in the middle of Geffen, in one of the poorer sections of the city. He was mostly unemployed, and he did the occasional odd-job or two to make ends meet, and lacking an arm made it difficult for him to find work, especially ones that involve manual labour. Colin usually got by with what he had, but it wasn't much.

" So, what do you actually do as Mr. Colt's assistant?" Colin asked as they exited his home.

" I run errands," Amanda answered.

" …That's all?" Colin asked.

" Well, someone has to pick you up, you know," Amanda answered.

The caravan was parked on the outside street, with a number of street urchins surrounding the Peco Peco that was pulling the vehicle, all of them attempting to pat the bird. Colin was a little surprised that the bird was sleeping while standing, not bothered by the amount of disturbance and noise the little kids around him were causing.

" Alright, Birdbrain! Wake up!" Amanda exclaimed, giving the bird a violent kick in the face. The bird merely slowly woke up, opening its eyes and squawking softly. Colin wondered if the bird was this inactive because it's been suffering from all the abuse this girl might be heaping onto it. Amanda didn't mind, and she shooed the urchins away as she made way to climb herself onto the caravan. " All aboard, Colin! We haven't got time to waste!"

ooo

" Feeling hungry?" Amanda asked as they were riding out in the plains. It had been a few hours of travel, and although Colin didn't particularly feel hungry at the moment, he suspected that he will be soon enough. Amanda dug through one of her packs that was with her in the driver's seat, pulling out a small sack, tossing it to Colin who was seated behind inside the caravan. " Geffen's Famous Pork Buns! You probably don't really like it cos you are from Geffen and all, but I absolutely love it! The taste of sweet bliss on your lips! Ah…just perfect!"

" …No, I kinda like them as well. Are these from the corner shop at the Eastern Avenue?" Colin asked.

" Yeah," Amanda replied, stuffing a bun into her mouth and chewing away.

" Well, looks like you know where to get the good stuff. The stall there sells the best Pork Buns, and I'll be brave enough to say, in this continent," Colin replied. " Do you enjoy eating food?"

" You bet I do! Know any good places to eat around the world?" Amanda asked.

" Not particularly. My salary doesn't particularly take me places," Colin replied.

" I'm sure once you work for us, you will have enough money to spend on whatever you want," Amanda replied, giggling slightly.

" So, you haven't told me what you actually do," Colin replied.

" …I run errands…" Amanda insisted. Colin somehow felt that she was telling the truth.

" Alright, I apologise for insisting," Colin replied.

" Ah-ha, I almost forgot. Do you know what you are supposed to do there?" Amanda exclaimed, changing the subject.

" Well, roughly. I'm supposed to teach, correct?" Colin asked.

" Yeah, but do you know the details?" Amanda asked.

" Nope," Colin answered honestly.

Amanda procured a sheet of paper out of nowhere and passed it to Colin. Taking it, he started to read what was on the paper. It basically entailed to the subjects that he might be able to teach. " This…is a very extensive list," Colin replied. " I don't think I can handle them all."

" Oh, you are not supposed to. It's just a list of what we might be teaching the students, so obviously you cannot teach all of it, but it would be good to know what topics you might be able to handle," Amanda replied.

" Are…they actually going to learn all of this?" Colin asked.

" Well, we are trying to have them learn all of it, but of course this is obviously not physically possible. They can't all be proficient in all different types of weapons or combat styles, nor can all of them recite ancient runes or cryptic symbols, but we will have to see how far they can go," Amanda replied. " Of course, there is still the compulsory topics which all of them have to pass."

" Compulsory subjects: Rune-Midgard history, basic mathematics, language, basic combat proficiency, basic cooking, fitness training, stamina training, physical education, basic anatomy, basic magic…there are at least a good 25 subjects or so here. Are they supposed to learn them all? And these are the compulsory ones only? I don't remember being subjected to such torture at such a young age," Colin replied.

" Heh, perhaps these kids are better than you think," Amanda replied, chuckling.

" …Just out of curiosity, where do the students come from? From my guess, this is a an experimental program, and from the looks of the program, it looks really regimental and physically and mentally demanding. I cannot imagine the typical parent to want their children this age to do something this drastic," Colin replied.

" Yeah, Mr. Colt ran into the same problem in finding students, cos parents won't want to so easily allow their child into such a program. So, he managed to get orphans," Amanda answered.

" Orphans?"

" Yes, pretty ingenious. The only person to have any say in whether to accept or not is just the kid, and for the most part, a large number of orphanages do not get very good funding save for some select areas, so living conditions aren't really cosy. They are given a very comfortable room for themselves, their supplies and living expenses are paid for and prepared for them, and we serve a generous, but not excessive and within diet limits, amounts of good food. Our schedule is very demanding, and if you want to insist, borders on child abuse, but we have yet to get a drop out because of our demanding schedule," Amanda replied. " They also get a good allowance."

" …Allowance?"

" Yes, getting money to get training. Best job in the world," Amanda replied.

" This program must have a lot of backing. I can only suspect that the funding is coming from the largest financial pool our country has," Colin replied.

" Second largest, but close enough," Amanda replied.

" That's quite impressive," Colin replied.

" Well, there were some moral issues. We are, after all, conducting an experiment using children, even if we are trying to be as humane as possible. Of course, when they suggested the monetary benefits, no real objections were raised," Amanda replied.

" Shocking…I never thought they would stoop so low," Colin replied chucking. " But are we actually doing this for the science or for the money?"

" You want my honest answer? Both, possibly. Assuming they can learn things faster, and not to mention, more efficiently, we can not only improve the workforce as a whole, but this will certainly improve our country's economy in many ways, and of course, if we improve the economy, the money comes along as a bonus. Scientifically, this might be a breakthrough, and if we actually manage to pull this off, we might have to revolutionise our education system," Amanda answer cheerfully.

" Not bad, but I do see some few flaws," Colin replied.

" Do say. We like to hear thoughts and opinions," Amanda answered.

" What about financial matters? I can only theorise a guess, but wouldn't the financial cost of getting this form of 'education' be fairly costly?" Colin asked.

" Perhaps, but if we actually do get it standardised, like our current education system, for the most part, it would be subsidized like normal. So, cost shouldn't be a problem," Amanda replied. " Well, that is assuming that it is received well by the public."

" …That would be my next question. Would it be accepted by the public?" Colin asked.

" Good question. Being a slight cynic and realist, I suspect it will be received negatively, at least at first. For one, before we can standardize it for the most part, admittance will be limited, and mostly for the rich cos the admission fee will have to be kinda steep to cover the cost of the education, and this will look kinda ugly, where like the rich people like merchants and nobles have exclusive education rights which are way better than normal, not like we don't have that kinda of bias right now," Amanda replied.

" Hmm…on the off-chance that if this program doesn't work, what will happen to the kids?" Colin asked.

" Well, we aren't that heartless to leave them helpless, so they will complete the program so that they can at least find a job and fend for themselves. Even in the worst case scenario like if we have to terminate now, they should have enough cash to get basic education and a decent place to stay, even if they are sent back to the orphanages where they came from," Amanda replied.

" You seem to have it covered, huh?" Colin noted.

" Nah…it's Mr. Colt who does the work. I just run errands," Amanda replied.

" I don't mean to be rude, but you do look kinda young to be running these kinds of errands," Colin replied.

" Ah, the bliss of political power and leverage…" Amanda cooed.

" …Forgive me for being tact, but I was not aware that you had connections," Colin replied.

" Ooh, wouldn't you like to know?" Amanda answered, winking slightly at him in a seductive manner.

ooo

The trip there was quite entertaining. Amanda was quite a talkative young girl, or either that she was quite lonely. Regardless of her intentions or behavior, Colin was glad to have her as company, since it was quite a journey to where they were heading. Amanda was quite well-read and had a broad knowledge on a lot of topics, with their topics of discussion ranging from agriculture to zoology, but her apparent favourite was food.

" Well, that took some time, but we are here now," Amanda replied.

Colin looked at the location. Right before them was a rather large castle. It had a typical wall surrounding it, and from the looks of the age of the stone used to build it, it was possibly built fairly recently. It was really spacious, about 1/3 the size of the Royal Palace in Prontera. However, instead of any form of architectural or artistic design, the inner building was mostly simple and square in shape, possibly to cater more to function than form.

" Nice place. Looks bland though," Colin replied. " Did you actually build it from scratch?"

" Not particularly. Conveniently enough, a town used to be located her, but it had been destroyed for some time now, possibly during the time when we were warring with our neighbouring nations, and this place was a victim of our wars. There was a nice castle here, and while in ruins, the stone foundations were solid enough to allow us to build a building on top of it," Amanda answered.

Amanda drove up to the gate, where there were a couple of guards hanging around. She waved cheerfully at them, and they allowed her to pass. " Stick your head out so they can recognize your face," Amanda replied.

" Is that all I need for security clearance?" Colin asked suspiciously.

" Damn, foiled…" Amanda muttered. " Looks like you aren't so easy to trick like the others I brought here."

" Hmph," Colin grunted, smiling slightly.

The caravan rocked violently all of a sudden, and Colin was surprised to see a very young girl, possibly 8 or 9 years of age, board the caravan. Board might be a wrong words to describe her actions, since she was hanging off by the edge of the back of the caravan, using her legs to keep her body being propped up against the caravan. She smiled a mischievous grin at Colin, showing her pearly white teeth.

" Hello there mister! What are you here for?" she asked.

" …I'm here to teach," Colin answered.

" Ooh, nice, you'll be one of our teachers? Nice…" the girl replied. " You seem to be missing an arm though. You alright?"

Colin raised an eyebrow in interest. " Don't worry about me," Colin replied. " What's your name, girl?"

" Meow~!" she replied.

" I wasn't asking you to emulate a cat, I was asking for your name," Colin replied.

"…What's…e-mu-late?" the girl asked curiously.

" I need to remind myself to use simpler language to kids," Colin replied, sighing. " I wasn't asking you to sound like a cat. What is your name?"

" Meow~!" the girl answered once more.

" …Your name cannot seriously be 'Meow'," Colin replied.

" A name is what people call you by, right? Where I am from, people call me 'Meow'," the girl answered. " …Not really much of a name, I suppose. Maybe you can give me a name?"

" Me? I don't have any conventional naming sense," Colin replied.

" What's conventional?" the girl asked.

" I'll teach you when I have the time," Colin replied.

" Give me a name, mister!" the girl cried excitedly.

" Fine, if you insist," Colin replied. " How does 'Death' sound?"

" 'Death'? You are going to give an 8 year old kid the name Death? You really don't have conventional naming sense," Amanda noted.

However, the girl broke into a very happy, if not slightly evil looking, grin, while she giggled slightly, which made her sound slightly creepy. " Death, I like this name. I like it very much," Death replied. " Thank you mister, maybe you can name the rest of us." With that, she hopped off the caravan, and watched it enter the inside of the castle ground.

Colin looked curiously at her. " What did she mean by name the rest of us?" Colin asked.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Complete**

A lone blacksmith was heading along the path to the meeting spot. He was carrying a large pack on his back, along with his blacksmith tools. He had collected his needed items, and he was supposed to meet his companion. Having managed to reach the meeting spot, a street that was lined with bars and cafes, he looked around so see if his companion had arrived.

" Hmm, not here yet? Am I too early?" he mused to himself.

The moment he said those words, he saw a person being flung out from a bar, crashing through the window and landing on the ground in an unconscious heap. There was a look of shock on his face, which was matched by the looks of the people around the area. He immediately scrambled to the bar where the men was tossed out from and barged into it, spotting the problem in an instant.

" Spike, what the hell are you doing?" he exclaimed.

The bar was in a mess. A good number of men and women were sprawled on the ground, looking as though they had the shit beaten out of them. The rest of the patrons were huddled at the edges of the bar, looking terrified. Right in the middle stood a bored looking female monk, who was straightening her cape, acting as if nothing had happened.

" Ah, Black, you are here at last," Spike spoke up.

" What the hell are you doing? You are creating a mess of this place," Black snapped at her.

" Oh, please. These thugs were bothering this little miss here, so I had to obviously step in," Spike replied, pointing her thumb to someone behind her. There was a young maiden who was crouched behind a fallen table, looking frightfully at her.

" She looks like she is frightened of you," Black replied.

" Tch, people these days," Spike replied, walking out of the bar.

" Why were you in there picking a fight?" Black snarled as she walked out. " The authorities will be here soon, and it's because you caused such a ruckus. Look, everyone is looking at us. We better leave this place soon."

" But the other guys aren't here yet," Spike replied, scowling slightly.

" Here…" a voice replied.

Looking around, they spotted a female wearing a long cloak that was covering her entire body, so the only visible part was her lower face, since the hood was pulled very low to cover her eyes.

" Chaos~! How lovely to see you again~" Spike exclaimed, not before licking her lips while eying Chaos leeringly. Chaos visibly took a step backwards.

" Nice to see you, Chaos, but I think we better get out of here. The authorities might be coming soon," Black interjected.

" Agreed," Chaos replied, not before quickly trotting off. Black and Spike followed her. Chaos kept moving along the streets, taking turns at almost every other junction. When they had covered some distance did she slow down to a slow stroll, slowly continuing on their way.

" Chaos~! I haven't seen you in a very long time. How have you been?" Spike replied. " You've grown now over the years. You don't look like a child anymore, but a young maiden with a damn fine body that not even that cloak can hide. How about giving Spiky a nice big hug?"

" …I'd rather you not molest me," Chaos answered honestly.

" Still as shy as ever, aren't we? That's what I like about you. All the better when I get to savour you later," Spike replied.

Chaos came to a halt and slipped her hand out from her cloak, which was holding a kunai. " …I WILL cut you…" Chaos warned.

" What's this? Can't Spiky give you a loving hug?" Spike asked, taking a step forward.

Chaos's hand swiped at Spike's face, and Black could see droplet's of blood spurt out from her face. There was a gash on Spike's cheek, and blood was now dripping from the wound. Instead of looking worried, Spike wore the expression of someone who was getting very excited.

" Aaah…my little Chaos is so much feisty now. I can live with that…" Spike cooed, licking the blood that was seeping from her wound and savouring it. " I like that, that was a quick, strong attack, something that I like in my victims."

" This exchange is fast becoming very creepy for a 4 year long reunion greeting. Spike, can you not molest Chaos? It's obvious that she doesn't like your advances," Black replied, sighing.

" Tch, then who am I supposed to use to comfort myself? Do you know hard it is to find hookers who share the same taste as I do?" Spike asked, sounding aggravated.

" I highly suspect that the difficulty is not because of their orientation, but more about your character," Black replied, sighing.

" Who else is coming? I told Ghost that if he didn't find at least two females I'm not coming along," Spike replied.

" Edge and Crimson…" Chaos answered quickly. Black wondered if she wanted Spike's attention on them instead.

" Ah well…all is good then," Spike replied.

" Hahaha, this is just perfect," someone spoke to them all of a sudden. " With this, I suppose our group is now complete."

All of them turned to see Ghost walking up to them, followed by the rest behind him. Crimson took out a knife and flung it towards Spike, who caught it with her teeth. She spat out the blade and caught it with her hand, twirling it around.

" What's this, Crimson? I sense a little rust in your throw," Spike spoke in a harsh tone.

" Been stuck in a prison for a while. My apologies for not been in touch for a while with my skills," Crimson replied, raising her hands in the form of a fist. Spike did the same, and they tapped each other's fists with one another, not before growling at each other.

" Why do they always do this kind of greeting?" Grant asked.

" Because they are insane…and it's kinda sexy," Eagle replied.

Spike threw her hood back and gave the boys a glaring, slightly mischievous look. Akin to her name, she had short, spiky red hair, giving her a very boyish look. She always had this dangerous, evil look on her face, especially when she grins, which she does a lot. One prominent feature about her was her two sharp canines from her upper jaw that protrude from her lips, giving her a very sinister look. She was one of the more bloodthirsty members of their group, and had a habit of hitting on anything that strikes her fancy.

Black, despite being one of the older members along with Eagle, was by far the shortest amongst all of them, even shorter than Chaos and Carrier. He certainly didn't have the large, muscular frame that most blacksmiths had in order to have strength to forge their weapons, nor did he have any form of ruggedness. He looked like a kid who was now carrying an overloaded backpack, although his size wasn't a testament to the level of strength he had, considering he was now carrying all his forging tools in a pack that was almost twice in size and more than three times his weight.

" Blackie!" Edge exclaimed affectionately, rubbing his short black hair affectionately. Edge was far more affectionate to Black than the rest, since it was him that mostly dealt with forging and maintenance of her armour and her weapons. " How have you been?"

" Not too bad. Been moving around, but mostly not doing much," Black answered.

" Well, getting you here means that we will be getting some upgrades and new equipment," Eagle replied. " That will be reassuring, although to get equipment for all of us will definitely take some time to make."

" That's pretty much the idea," Black answered.

" Eagle, you look much more handsome this time around," Spike replied, throwing her arms around him, looking at him seductively. " Tell me, how have you been? I've been quite lonely without you. How about you entertain me later sometime?"

" Sounds like the good old times," Eagle replied.

" That's sick. Aren't you married now?" Carrier chided Eagle.

" Is that so? Must be the explanation for his allure. Married men are certainly more attractive somehow. A little fooling around never hurt anyone, right?" Spike replied in sly manner, tickling Eagle's chin. " And my, I'm surprised Carrier's still around. You certainly don't die easy, don't you?"

" …Thank God this is possibly one of the last times I have to hear this God damned phrase," Carrier replied, gritting his teeth.

" What's this? Carrier's unhappy? Don't worry, big sis Spiky will give you a little treat tonight, okay? I'm sure it's something you can enjoy very well," Spike replied, licking her lips seductively.

" …The highlight of my entire life: Being hit by a psychotic female. I can die happy now," Carrier muttered sarcastically.

" Anyway, since we have all gathered together…Black, does your forge have enough space to fit all of us?" Ghost asked.

ooo

Black's forge was about the same as most other blacksmith forges. He wasn't making or forging any weapons, so the abnormal heat that usually surrounded the place was absent. Crates full of raw materials such as ore and metals were placed next to his anvil, and the place was lined with weapons and equipment. Carrier picked out a small gladius from the side of the wall where it hung, and licked the blade with his tongue.

" I can see that your forging skills are still top-notch," Carrier noted.

Black took the knife from Carrier's hand and washed it off in a basin of water which was usually used to cool his weapons. " Do you mind using other forms of testing to ensure my weapons work? Licking my weapons…dear me," Black sighed, placing the gladius back where it came from.

" This place looks slightly untouched. You have not been working for a while now?" Grant asked.

" Well, you know how Ghost is such a slave-driver. Been running errands for him since we met up," Black replied.

" I'm not that bad, you know," Ghost replied.

" Is this all we have left?" Crimson mused. " The only survivors?"

" No, I'm sure there are some of them still around. The ones gathered here are the ones I have managed to find during my search. For the others who are still alive and have not been found, either they are hiding really well, or they have left the country," Ghost replied. " This group will be our main force."

" …Should we search for the rest?" Grant piped up.

" I spent 4 years and you are the ones I could find, not to mention you are more of the easier ones to find," Ghost replied.

" Well, it was 'only' you. There are 9 of us now. Can't we widen the search radius?" Grant suggested.

" Ghost is too impatient. Obviously, we were the ones who were much easier to find, and he picked us first. The rest of them are either hiding very well, or avoiding him altogether. Personally, I don't care. We can work with this amount of people," Spike replied, slamming her fists together. " Can we get to killing some people already? It's been a while now, and I need to get my fix."

" I don't really mind. Unless we really need the extra manpower, the 9 of us should do just fine," Eagle replied. " What's important is we need to determine the leader of our group."

" I thought Ghost is our leader?" Carrier replied.

" It's assumed, due to the fact that he picked up all of us. I suppose not many of you will object, but let's make this official, shall we?" Eagle replied, walking up to the middle of the room. " I nominate Ghost as our team leader. Who agrees with me?"

All of them raised their hands save for Carrier and Spike.

" Why can't I be leader this time?" Spike grumbled.

" I think we can safely agree that a psychotic lesbian with murderous tendencies does not have the slightest bit of leadership capabilities. Chaos would make a better leader even being mute," Crimson replied. Spike flung something towards Crimson's face, but Carrier extended his arm and caught the knife that went sailing towards Crimson's face, the blade barely touching her forehead. " I could have caught that, you know."

" Oh yes, I know," Carrier replied, pocketing the knife. " I just wanted to keep it."

" Hey, give that back, you little thief," Spike snapped.

" Spike, what have I said about throwing weapons in my forge?" Black sighed.

" Carrier, you disagree with my nomination?" Eagle asked.

" Yes, for the sake of being the team's asshole. Someone has got to take up the position anyway," Carrier replied mockingly. " Sorry, childhood grudges run deep, not that I object or anything."

" Why is he…?" Crimson started, but Ghost cut her short.

" It's fine. I appreciate the gesture," Ghost replied. " But I wouldn't have it any other way."

" Ass," Grant grunted, while Edge merely chuckled.

" Alright, boss, what's the masterplan?" Black asked.

" First off, Black will need to forge us most of our equipment. With that, for the most part, we will be busy shopping for the equipment and materials we need. Since we will be going all out, we may as well get the best. State what you would like Black to make, and he will inform you of the materials needed to forge and make whatever you need. You just need to get whatever you need," Ghost replied.

" Secondly, the reason why I asked all of you to come here is because our first target for our revenge is here," Ghost replied. The rest of them seemed to listen to him more abruptly when he said 'target'. " Her name is Sabrina Dent."

" …Holy shit, the headmistress of the Geffen Academy?" Spike exclaimed.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Plans**

The Geffen Academy was one of the most prominent structures in all of the magic city, and for good reason. The tower had a history of over a thousand years, built by the very first generation of scholars and mages. It was the site of magical learning and research, and it can be safely said that the tower was the backbone of Rune-Midgard's magic.

The tower and its surrounding buildings are where most of the magic users of Rune-Midgard come to learn and hone their spells. It is here that the Geffen Magic Academy resides, where young mages take their first step in education towards higher learning of the arcane arts. The streets are usually filled with young youths, students of the academy.

Up at the topmost part of the tower was the Geffen Academy's headmaster's office, where one could have a great overview of the entire city below. Inside it resided the 104th Headmistress of the Geffen Academy, Sabrina Dent.

Sabrina was not the youngest Headmistress, but she is most certainly young enough by regular standards. At the age of 33, she had managed to reach the top post of the Academy due to her prodigal skills and intellect that was far beyond her years. She leads a number of research on magical artifacts of long forgotten technology, and she is known to actively participate in classroom activities, apparently having a passion for teaching. However, while she isn't exactly unapproachable, some people feel that she acts a little cold, perhaps a running trait on genius level wizards.

Sabrina has an unusual habit of not leaving the Geffen Tower, or her office for the matter. Unless she is required to be elsewhere for research or for classes, Sabrina usually stays in her office in the Geffen Tower. She eats there, studies there, and sleeps there, having made a makeshift living quarters in her own personal office. She almost always never leaves the tower, so it is usually a rare sight if one spots here anywhere else in Geffen city. It is not unusual for her to ask her assistants to run errands for her so that she won't be required to leave the comfort of her own office.

" Oh boy, why do I always get the most troublesome tasks?" Carrier sighed.

Both Carrier and Chaos had been tasked with infiltrating the Geffen Tower to learn more about Sabrina Dent. Ghost had managed to find some information about her, but what he needed were her habits, what she did and her routine. If they planned to kill her, they needed to be fully prepared, as she is known to be a tremendously powerful wizard in her own right.

Getting inside the Geffen Tower was easy in itself. Infiltration was one of the specialties of Chaos and Carrier. They made it to one of the nearby student dormitories and managed to pilfer a couple of student uniforms. Chaos managed to forge some fake identification cards, and they managed to slip past security easily. The rest of the way consisted of heading towards her office without anyone noticing.

Chaos leaned close towards the office door, trying to make out sounds inside. " …Shuffling papers…she is inside…" Chaos whispered to Carrier.

" Hmm, getting inside her office might be a little troublesome," Carrier mused. " The top of the tower only has her office, and her door is the only entrance and exit. I suppose we might need to climb from the windows from the lower floor to get into her room through her windows."

Chaos looked curiously at Carrier, and he noticed her inquisitive glare. " …Is there something on my face?" Carrier asked.

" …You seem…uncomfortable somewhat…" Chaos stated her observation.

" Really? I'm fine," Carrier replied.

" You can't lie to me…" Chaos replied.

" Ugh…well, fine…I do feel uneasy, although it's not much to do with the mission. Did I mention I was from Geffen?" Carrier asked. Chaos shook her head. " Well, this is sort of like my hometown, except I do not have too much fond memories here, I suppose."

" Why not?" Chaos asked.

Carrier was about to explain when he heard something. Chaos heard it as well, as her attention returned to the office door. Soft footsteps could be heard approaching them. Both of them jumped upwards, sticking themselves onto the stone ceiling, their fingers finding the minute edges and dents to hold on to. Very quietly, they stayed there, holding their breath to hide their presence.

Sabrina exited her office, holding a number of scrolls and what looked like a list, along with various stationeries. Carrier stole a glance at Sabrina, and she looked exactly like he remembered. She was fairly imposing, standing almost 6 feet tall, which was quite a height for a female. Her long, silky purple hair swayed behind her as she took rapid steps and descended the long staircase to the lower levels. Although several years have passed, Carrier noted that she didn't seem to particularly look like she aged, having the same pristine look she had the last time he saw her when he was very young.

She moved quickly, and within seconds, she was gone from their view, her footsteps echoing along the stone steps of the tower. Seconds later, both Carrier and Chaos dropped down from the ceiling, careful to not make any noise when they both landed on the floor.

" …Class?" Chaos asked.

" So it seems," Carrier replied, grinning slightly. " Shall we attend her lecture?"

ooo

The Geffen Academy lecture halls were usually quite imposing, especially the ones which could accommodate large amounts of students. The one both Chaos and Carrier entered was especially huge. The lecture hall could easily over 500 students, and the class was almost filled to the brim. Carrier observed that they were fresh students, probably having just entered university, from the looks of their age. However, both of them were not too old to look to suspicious entering the class.

Carrier was about to ask what was Chaos going to do about her face mask, since sitting in a class while covering her face would draw attention, but apparently Chaos had fixed that problem. She had her facemask removed, but she had loosened her hair, and now it was hanging over her face, covering half her face, looking like a shy girl who was trying to avoid attention. Carrier chuckled at the fact that she still had not fully shown her face.

For some reason, he found himself absolutely interested in her face. As far as he could recall, Chaos had not shown her entire face to anyone, and despite only showing half a face, Carrier was quite interested in seeing what she looked like under the mask. Almost instinctively knowing what Carrier was doing, Chaos casually brushed her hair, letting her hair cover the side of her face where Carrier was, and she tilted her head slightly away from Carrier. Carrier couldn't help but chuckled to himself at the gesture.

They managed to find a couple of seats somewhere at the back row of the lecture hall, with several hundred students in front of them to cover their presence. Sabrina could be seen standing in the very front on a slightly elevated stage, about to give her lecture. She dug out a small round, transparent glass sphere, and tapped it twice. It started to emit a soft, white glow, not before levitating several centimeters off her hand.

" Alright, please get seated so we may begin as soon as possible. I get cranky when I am hungry, so don't annoy me today, alright?" Sabrina replied jokingly, and most of the class traded giggles and laughter. " Let's continue with our previous lecture. We talked about energy waves and their possible energy paths. Can anyone recap what we talked about last week?...I see a hand. Brad, right?"

Her voice seemed magically amplified for some reason, so that her clear, crisp voice could be heard throughout the entire lecture hall, almost as if she was speaking while standing right next to you. She pointed to a young mage sitting on the front row, who had raised his hand.

" We discussed on the practical aspects of harnessing runic energy to power arcane spells, and what we need to consider before using such arcane magic, such as geography, time and other various factors. Mineralogy can be used to amplify elemental abilities as well," Brad replied.

" That's right, in a nutshell. Of course, nothing is usually so simple, since there are secondary variables that will affect our primary variables to certain degrees. For example, if you consider…"

Carrier and Chaos quietly sat through the entire lecture, which was about alternate variables that mages need to consider when casting their spells. A lot of it was magical jargon which most people would not normally understand, but both Chaos and Carrier had studied such things before, to a certain degree, so they could understand much of the lecture.

The class was quite lively, and it was no doubt due to Sabrina's character. She was free-spirited and energetic, unlike the stereotypical serious and stern wizards of the Geffen Academy. Sabrina was more open-minded, preferring to crack jokes and use humour to keep the classes attention, and there was no doubt that the students seem to enjoy her lecture as well. It was quite evident that she has a lot of passion to teach younger mages.

" Well, that is all for today's lecture. I'll see you all for tomorrow's class, and the only exception for not coming is if you are busy finishing MY assignments for today's class. Off you go," Sabrina spoke, packing her stuff as she dismissed her class.

There was a lot of noise as the students slowly exited the class, packing their bags and busy discussing today's lecture. Carrier and Chaos looked at each other, not before nodding their heads and prepared to leave as well.

" Oh hey, you two. Our headmistress wants to have a word with both of you. She asked you to meet her in her office," a voice spoke up.

Carrier paused, not before turning around to look at the person who spoke it. It was a young female mage with light blue hair, and she was looking directly at Carrier and Chaos, who were frozen to the spot.

" Us?" Carrier asked.

" Yeah, she said meet her in her office after this," the girl answered, not before following a bunch of friends.

Carrier turned to Sabrina, who was at that moment looking at him. She smiled casually at him and nodded her head to signal to him, not before continuing to pack her stuff. Carrier was panicking slightly now. _She knows…_

" Carrier…?" Chaos spoke. She showed no emotion, but Carrier was sure she was as nervous as he was. " What do we do…?"

" …Let's follow her," Carrier spoke after a while.

" …But…"

" If she wanted to catch us, she could have easily alerted security. If she wanted to attack us, she could have easily done so. She wants to talk. Let's play along and see what she wants with us," Carrier replied, not sure what in the world possessed him to want to walk into the lion's den. " Let's play her little game for a bit."

ooo

Carrier and Chaos followed her some distance behind Sabrina as she returned to her office. As she entered, she didn't bother closing it this time, almost expecting Carrier and Chaos to waltz into her room. Carrier glanced at Chaos, who obviously thought this was a bad idea, but he steeled himself and boldly entered Sabrina's office.

It was almost as what he expected to see. Her entire study was line with bookshelves, all of them filled to the brim with an assortment of various types of books and papers. One bookshelf kept solely what looked like a wide collection of crystals. In the middle of the room was Sabrina's desk, which was so large it looked rather imposing, matching Sabrina in terms of relative size. The desk contained a messy collection of scrolls, various stationeries, pieces of paper and a stack of textbooks. Sabrina herself was seated comfortably on the cushiony oak seat that came along with the desk, casually browsing through several papers as she relaxed herself while placing her feet on her desk. She waved her hand to signal Carrier to close her door, and Carrier for whatever reason did as he was told, hoping he wasn't exactly locking himself in a trap.

"…It's been a while, hasn't it, Max?" Sabrina replied

" It's been a long time since I had anyone address me by that name. Sure takes me back," Carrier replied, trying to sound cool.

Placing her papers down, she got up and slowly walked towards both of them, standing right in front of them. Without warning, she raised her hand and grabbed hold of Carrier's shoulders. Chaos instinctively drew out 2 kunais, almost expecting an attack, only to look rather confused when Sabrina pulled Carrier close for a very warm, comforting hug. Perhaps even more surprising, after a few seconds, Carrier reciprocated her feelings by returning a hug as well.

" …Err…" Chaos was speechless, seeing both Carrier and the person they wanted to kill share a hug. After a few seconds, they broke apart and took a couple of steps back.

" It has been a while. You look good, despite supposedly being dead," Sabrina spoke.

" …Ugh, even you?" Carrier groaned.

" …Who is this? I assume she's part of your Guild. Your significant other?" Sabrina asked.

" Of course," Carrier jokingly replied, although he could feel Chaos's piercing glare from right behind him, signifying that she wasn't amused. " …I guess not then…"

" …You know this woman?" Chaos asked, slightly timidly.

" Well, yes, I do. I did mention I am from Geffen originally. When I stayed here, she was…my guardian, of sorts," Carrier answered. " This was before the time I got roped into the guild, so it was when I was a street urchin or sorts back then. Sabrina used to take care of me, when she could. She was much poorer back then, if I recalled, as a mere mage student."

Chaos could obviously see the problem with this scenario. The very person they were targeting was someone that cared for him and whom he cared about. She wondered if it was the reason why he did not mention about their relationship before. If there was any distinct feelings or emotions Carrier was going through, he did not openly show it. In fact, his expression this time was rather blank, almost as if he was trying to play a game of poker with an opponent.

" Indeed, I suppose I have come a long way, even if it is about only a decade ago," Sabrina replied, returning to the seat on her desk. " Well, both of you are here. Are you two going to finish the job, or can I correctly assume you were scouting me out?"

"…Excuse me?" Carrier asked.

" Do not play dumb with me. I know that remnants of whatever that remains of your friends and original guild are gathered here. Ghost, I believe, has been sneaking around for some time now, but he assumes I am not as alert as I seem. You are all here for revenge, as you should. After all, I was one of the people who commissioned the annihilation of your guild," Sabrina spoke, her lips curling slightly to a smile.

Chaos almost wanted to take her on right there, regardless of the danger or whether or not she could fully take on one of the best High Wizards of their generation. She spoke of their friends as if they were just mere statistics, in such a cold, hard voice. Almost immediately, Carrier raised his hands. She looked at him quizzically, almost as if he could sense her intent.

" We are here to scout you out. I doubt we can afford a fight with you with just two of us. We might win, but it will not be particularly easy," Carrier spoke. There was this unnatural stillness in Carrier's voice. " …So, tell me, why did you do it? When I first heard of it, I thought it might be a mistake, although when I think about it again, with your character, it was probably natural."

" Such a silly question. I supported your annihilation because I saw the monsters that they made inside," Sabrina replied, almost angrily, as if it was already obvious.

" …To be fair, we were more like lab rats," Carrier argued.

" Doesn't change the fact that whatever Alexander Colt was doing was creating a collection of dangerous individuals. He created humans beyond their normal capacities. He made you lose yourself in that place. He changed all of you into people who are not human. The world isn't ready for such power," Sabrina spoke. Carrier and Chaos didn't respond, merely listened to what she had to say.

" …I've seen the reports. I've seen what you all are capable of. You all learn arts what an expert would require years to learn in mere months. You recover from your wounds in days what normal people will take weeks. All of you have strength and agility beyond your normal means, and that scrawny partner of yours could probably dent a well-forged steel shield with her bare hands even if her size does not match her strength," Sabrina replied. " Alexander Colt changed all of you into powerful, dangerous killing machines, and if that isn't some form of abomination of nature, I don't know what is."

" …So you decided to get rid of us?" Carrier asked.

" If it makes you feel any better, it was to prevent an all out war between our neighbouring countries," Sabrina replied.

" …I don't get you," Carrier replied.

Sabrina took a few sheets of papers and continued with browsing them, almost as if conversing with them was not of any importance. She took a long, smoking pipe, made of high class wood and metal, and lighted it up, the stench of the smoke reeking throughout the room. Carrier raised an eyebrow, since she previously did not smoke before.

" Tensions were high between our neighbouring countries. Although our northern neighbours do not want to engage in war, a lot of internal parties seek to benefit from a full-scale conflict, so it wasn't surprising back then that news of war was brewing. Alexander decided to take pre-emptive measures to ensure Rune-Midgard gets a significant advantage if we ever go to war, so he set up a centre to train young orphans, under the guise of a training guild. That was the Archangel guild. That was where you were taken and made into the weapon you are today," Sabrina spoke, smoking her pipe casually. " We couldn't accept that. Informants from the northern countries passed us information about your 'guild'. If they knew we were gearing up for war, then it would be inevitable that they too will engage in war. Alexander's pre-emptive methods were silly and dumb as they came."

" We decided to take pre-emptive action, cut all ties by their roots. If we could convince our neighbours that we had absolutely nothing to do with Alexander and his experiments, we were hoping that we could prevent war between our countries. As we responded to our neighbours, and rewarded them with gifts for their 'warnings' on his activities, and sent one of our strongest divisions to completely wipe out whatever that is left of your troops. You know that day well enough. I'm sure you were there, although it does come to no surprise that some of you survived," Sabrina concluded her story.

" …We were…sacrifices?" Chaos mused.

" If you want to put it nicely, then yes. We had no interest in fighting a war, but Alexander was carrying out his experiments to create better human weapons which was not helping our cause. All of you were just something we had to get rid of between our political problems," Sabrina replied.

Carrier and Chaos kept quiet, merely digesting all the words that she said. Carrier knew it was true. Rune-Midgard would lose so much more if they were to fight in a war, and the casualties in the mere hundreds would not compare to the thousands lost if war was to be ignited.

" …So, are we suppose to grant you forgiveness?" Carrier asked.

Sabrina broke into a cruel, cold laugh, almost dropping her smoking pipe. " Carrier, that is such a silly question. Your friends have all gathered her to seek revenge to what has happened to them that day. Your partner there is more than ready to sink her weapons into my neck if she had the chance. You speak of forgiveness, but there can be no forgiveness for the people who have been wronged. All of you are out to kill me, and I do not resent that at the very least. If there is anything I dislike, it's you for being far too forgiving," Sabrina replied, not before returning to her papers. " My door is open, and you can leave if you wish. If your friends wish to find me, you know very well where I am."

" You are not going to stop us?" Carrier asked.

" What for? We have made our point, and our neighbouring countries had bought our actions that day. I have no need to hunt down the remaining remnants of whatever that was left of your Archangel group," Sabrina answered. " But do know this: this is the only allowance I will grant you. If I see you and your friends again, I will not hold back, but only because I know I cannot afford to."

Chaos turned to Carrier, who still spotted the same, empty expression he had throughout the entire conversation. Shaking his head slightly, he turned around and motioned to her to follow him, as there was nothing else to be done today, and she quickly exited the room with him.


End file.
